Green Acres echoes out

by Valentine Marc Nkwame

The fifth batch of Green Acres Class Seven graduands rolled out of the school’s conveyor belt last week.

With 49 girls and 43 boys, all adding up to 92 pupils who sat for this year (2003)’s National primary Examinations, as Green Acre’s candidates, the school faces the biggest challenge in its academic history.

Green Acres, which is one of the earliest English medium schools in Arusha region, debuted into national examinations in 1999 with 43 candidates.

The results were good: 38 pupils passed and the school recorded five failures, reaching the second position regionally and 88^th nationally. Naasha Junior Academy took the first slot regionally.

The following year (2000), Green Acres made its millennium breakthrough with its 41 candidates, all of whom, except one passed the Class Seven final exams, making the school debut into Arusha region’s number one position.

In that same year, Green Acres exam results put the school in the 13^th position nationally, beating over 11,000 primary schools countrywide.

From there, things only got better for the Arumeru based English medium primary school, for in the year 2001, the school once more hit the top position in the entire Arusha region.

The national examinations results also placed the school in the 6^th position nationally, having recorded no failures. All the 49 Green Acres candidates, passed the class seven exams.

Last year, the school dropped its biggest academic bombshell yet. Green Acres’ 50 class seven candidates passed with flying colours, once again putting the privately owned institution in the region’s top most position.

The school smoothly sailed into the country’s top three position creating an academic record which may prove hard to break even to Green Acres itself.

This is more the case, because this time, Green Acres have to work with twice the number of candidates and also the highest in its history of existence.

Besides, more English medium schools in Green Acres’ genre have mushroomed in the past two or three years, most of which have already entered the class seven examinations arena.

In other words, despite its humble beginning (the school started with five children being taught in a residential house living room). Green Acres now must run twice as fast in order to at least, retain its current position.

Green Acres now has 18 permanent classrooms, a staff rom, a dining hall, an assembly hall and a computer laboratory.

The school sorely lacks play grounds.

"Plot for expansion is our biggest problem!" lamented Green Acres’ Headmaster, Solomon Ngalesoni during the last week’s graduation ceremony, which was held at the school.

Established in 1993, Green Acres is among the 185 primary schools that are in the Arumeru district but its probably the only one with dire need for a plot for expansion.

The Guest of Honour during the graduation ceremony, Mr. Patrick Tsere, Managing Director of the Arusha International Conference Centre, whose speech was read on his behalf by the Centre’s Finance and Administrative Manager, Mr. Shilia Kaaya, urged the graduands to strive to attain the highest standards of education that would make them competent in the "global village".

Last modified: November 14, 2003.
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