A school uniform can be replaced. An exercise book can be bought. Even a long journey to school can sometimes be solved with a bicycle.
But when a child has already dropped out, returning to the classroom can require much more than a school bag and a new pair of shoes.
It can require someone to look for her, listen to her story, remove the barriers that drove her away and, most importantly, convince her that her education is not over.
For girls and other vulnerable young people in Kilosa and Manyoni districts, that second chance is increasingly becoming a reality through the Campaign for Female Education (CAMFED), whose interventions are helping students who have dropped out return to education and rebuild interrupted dreams.
The journey is not always easy.
Some students leave school because their families cannot afford basic learning materials. Others live too far from school and struggle with transport. Some cannot secure accommodation. For others, teenage pregnancy, difficult family circumstances or life on the streets can bring their education to an abrupt halt.
CAMFED’s re-entry support seeks to address some of those barriers, working with teachers, councils and communities to identify students who have left school, support their return and help them remain in education.
At Manyoni Secondary School, CAMFED Link Teacher Beatrice Godson Mwanga has witnessed the difference since the organisation began supporting the school in 2019.
For her, the story is not simply about students receiving assistance. It is about young people who might otherwise have been lost from the education system finding a way back.
The school currently has 67 CAMFED-supported students. Sixty-three are Form Four students, while four are private candidates who had previously left school and are now continuing their education through the private candidate arrangement.
Ms Mwanga says the circumstances that push students out of school are often interconnected.
Some come from families unable to provide uniforms, exercise books, pens and other learning materials. Others face the additional burden of finding a safe place to stay.
“Many students used to commute from home to school, exposing them to various challenges and temptations along the way,” she says.
For a child living far from school, the daily journey can mean spending hours on the road, arriving tired or missing classes altogether. For girls in particular, being away from the protection of school and family can expose them to risks that may eventually interrupt their education.
CAMFED’s support for accommodation has therefore become an important part of keeping vulnerable students in school.
By helping students stay at or near school, the programme reduces some of the pressures that can contribute to absenteeism and dropout. Support for meals and other essential needs further enables students to concentrate on their studies.
But Ms Mwanga has an important message for the young people receiving such assistance…a second chance must be treated as an opportunity, not something to be taken for granted.
“If someone is willing to hold your hand, help you overcome the challenges you are facing and provide you with the basic needs required for your education, you should appreciate that opportunity,” she says.
That image of a helping hand captures the heart of CAMFED’s re-entry work.
The organisation is not only supporting students who have remained continuously in school. It is also working with those whose educational journeys have been interrupted.
In Kilosa District, Education Officer for Academic Affairs and CAMFED District Committee member, Teacher Milandu Kinyonga says re-entry is one of the areas in which CAMFED has become an important partner.
The district currently has 56 secondary schools, with 34 covered by CAMFED programmes.
Its bursary programme currently supports 796 students, 457 in Form Three and 339 in Form Four.
But alongside bursary support for students already in school, there are interventions designed to trace and support young people who have fallen out of the education system.
Among them are girls whose education was interrupted by pregnancy.
For years, teenage pregnancy has been one of the major barriers to girls’ education. Once a girl became pregnant, the interruption could easily become permanent, especially where her family lacked the financial means or social support needed to help her return.
The current policy allowing girls who become pregnant and give birth to return to school has opened a new pathway.
CAMFED’s role includes following up some of these students and supporting their return to education.
For the young mothers involved, returning to school can mean confronting stigma, financial difficulties, childcare responsibilities and the psychological burden of having already fallen behind their peers.
That is why re-entry cannot simply mean telling a student to report back to school.
The circumstances that caused the dropout must also be addressed.
Kilosa Acting Secondary Education Officer, Sebastian Msuya says this is where support from CAMFED and other education stakeholders becomes important.
The Council and its partners follow up students and schools to identify challenges that could cause learners to drop out again.
The approach is increasingly comprehensive.
A girl may need a uniform, exercise books and pens. Another may need transport. Another may require accommodation. Yet another may need someone to encourage her after a difficult period away from school.
Mr Msuya says students living far from schools sometimes become discouraged by the distances they must travel, with some eventually abandoning their education.
CAMFED has responded in some cases by providing bicycles to students who live far from school.
The organisation has also provided other educational necessities, including exercise books, pens and uniforms.
But the journey back to school is perhaps most visible at Mazinyungu TRC, also known as Mazinyungu Open School in Kilosa.
The school provides an opportunity for children and young people who discontinued their studies for various reasons to resume their education.
Teacher Ruth Crispin Chahiwa has watched some of the students rebuild their lives through education after experiencing difficult circumstances.
In 2024, six CAMFED-supported students enrolled at the school, followed by another six in 2025. Altogether, 22 students at the school have benefited from CAMFED support.
Some had faced circumstances so difficult that simply coming to school was a challenge.
They lacked exercise books and pens. Some had no shoes or school bags. Others had been living in extremely difficult conditions, including on the streets.
For two students, accommodation was another major obstacle. CAMFED provided money to help them rent rooms, allowing them to leave the difficult environments in which they had been living and establish more stable conditions for continuing their education.
The change, Ms Chahiwa says, has gone beyond classroom attendance.
Students have become more confident, disciplined and committed to their studies.
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Those who completed their studies in 2024 attained Division Four results, giving them opportunities to continue their education through different pathways.
For a teacher who has watched students struggle merely to reach school, such progress represents much more than an examination result.
It is evidence that a disrupted education can be restarted.
Ms Chahiwa says she is grateful to the government for creating opportunities for young people to return to education and to CAMFED for supporting them with materials and other essential needs.
Before receiving support, some students could not even attend classes because they lacked an exercise book or pen.
Today, they are back in classrooms, working towards completing their education.
The experience in Mazinyungu illustrates an important reality about school re-entry….returning is only the first step.
Keeping a student in school requires sustained support.
This is why CAMFED’s programmes in Kilosa extend beyond the initial return.
Through initiatives such as the Learner Guide programme, young people receive social support and life-skills education from peer mentors, young girls who come from similar backgrounds and understand their challenges. The Dunia Yangu Bora sessions they deliver help young people develop knowledge and skills for dealing with challenges in their communities and everyday lives.
The Transition Guide programme prepares students for life after secondary school, including reproductive health and entrepreneurship education.
Those who choose the business pathway can receive support to develop entrepreneurial activities, while those choosing agriculture can pursue farming opportunities. Some beneficiaries have already established agricultural projects, including watermelon farming.
In this way, the objective is not simply to bring a young person back into the classroom.
It is to help her remain there, complete her education and have a realistic pathway afterwards.
That philosophy also explains why CAMFED has increasingly invested in the physical environment in which students study.
A student may be determined to return to school, but a poor learning environment can make that return difficult to sustain.
At Msoe Secondary School, CAMFED provided 20 beds and 40 mattresses to improve accommodation conditions.
At Zombo Secondary School, the organisation funded the construction of 10 toilet cubicles.
Mr Msuya says Msowero and Zombo secondary schools also received a combined 24m/- for toilet-related projects.
The interventions are intended to make schools safer and more conducive for learning.
Water has also become part of the wider response. CAMFED has facilitated water wells at 10 primary schools in Kilosa, particularly in areas that previously experienced serious shortages. At least one of the projects has also benefited a neighbouring community.
According to Mr Msuya, education stakeholders hold assessment meetings with Council leaders and other partners to review projects, assess progress and identify gaps.
The aim is to ensure that students do not simply return for a short period before disappearing from the education system again.
The Council also works with other partners because, as enrolment increases, the need for classrooms, sanitation facilities, dormitories, learning materials and other services grows.
CAMFED is therefore one of several organisations complementing Government efforts in the education sector.
Mr Msuya says the collaboration has contributed to a decline in school dropout and a stronger community response to education.
He also says teenage pregnancy remains a challenge, although the situation has improved compared with previous years. Seminars, school-based workshops and collaboration among government institutions, NGOs and other stakeholders have contributed to the improvement.
Yet officials caution that challenges remain.
Several newly established secondary schools in Kilosa have not yet been incorporated into CAMFED programmes, while some advanced-level schools are also outside the current coverage.
There is also a continuing need to strengthen the identification and follow-up of students at risk of dropping out, improve school infrastructure and ensure access to basic requirements such as food and transport.
Official figures on teenage pregnancy for the 2025/26 academic year were not yet fully documented at the time of the interviews, so firm comparisons require confirmation from relevant records.
But numbers do not always capture the full meaning of re-entry.
Sometimes, the evidence is a girl sitting in a classroom after months or years away, determined to complete her education and build a better future despite the circumstances that once threatened to end her dreams.
For such girls, returning to school is more than a second chance at education. It is an opportunity to regain confidence, acquire skills, pursue further studies or establish a business, and become economically independent. For young mothers, it can also mean building a more secure future for their children.
With sustained support from their families, schools, communities and partners such as CAMFED, these girls can move from being beneficiaries of assistance to becoming role models and sources of inspiration for others facing similar challenges.
A girl who completes her education and builds a livelihood can encourage another to return to school. That girl, in turn, can inspire others, creating a cycle of change that extends beyond individual classrooms and communities to future generations.
The challenges remain, from poverty and inadequate school facilities to teenage pregnancy and the difficulties of balancing education with family responsibilities. But the experiences in Kilosa and Manyoni demonstrate that dropping out need not mean the end of a young person’s educational journey.
With the right support, a disrupted dream can be revived, and a second chance can become the beginning of a different future, one in which more girls stay in school, complete their studies and help open doors for those who follow.
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