Frequently Asked Questions

The School of St Jude is located in Arusha, Tanzania.

St Jude’s opened in 2002 with just three students. Now we educate 1,800 students across three schools and we support hundreds of graduates into higher education!

Every year, St Jude’s offers academic scholarships to students who come from a considerably poor background, yet demonstrate academic promise and a great attitude towards studies. To achieve this, we conduct a fair and thorough scholarship application process.

The School of St Jude does not provide higher education. Instead the school supports graduates with funding they need to access higher education. The School of St Jude started the Beyond St Jude’s (BSJ) Program in 2015 to help secondary school (Form 6) graduates start the next stage of their lives, while continuing to develop their leadership potential and community spirit. In 2021, the program was expanded to include our Form 4 graduates.

Yes. The School of St Jude does have a Child Protection Policy (CPP). You can read it here.

Tanzania is a country on the Eastern side of Africa. It is home to 65 million people and spans an area of almost 365,000 square miles (about Texas and Michigan combined). It is a highly diversified country of more than 120 indigenous tribes. The people of Tanzania Kiswahili, which is the official language of the country. The School of St Jude is located on the northern part of the country, in the region of Arusha.

Poverty in Tanzania is endemic; 80% of people live on less than US$2.96 a day. Three-quarters of Tanzania’s school-aged children are not in secondary school and cannot access skilled employment. Education lifts people out of poverty and creates stable and growing economies.

Our data shows that a family at St Jude’s earns an average of US$1.2 per day – which is the world’s recognized poverty line. Furthermore, our data indicates these families would continue being trapped in the cycle of poverty without intervention. This involves families having to sell or borrow assets to take their children to school – that’s why The School of St Jude provides 100% free education.

Primary education in Tanzania is the first seven years of school; starting in Standard 1, students graduate from primary school in Standard 7. The first four years of secondary school are called Ordinary Level (O Level) studies; from Form 1 to Form 4. The final two years of secondary school in Tanzania are called Advanced Level (A Level); Form 5 and 6.

When you sponsor a student at The School of St Jude, you’ll receive a detailed profile about the student whose scholarship you are sponsoring. Following this, you will receive three letters per year from the student, in addition to their school reports, annual school photo and news of any awards or special achievements throughout the year.

The School of St Jude asks sponsors to commit to at least 3 years of sponsorship in order to ensure stability for students and the school.

Importantly, the school requires that sponsors act in accordance with our Child Protection Policy. This means that sponsors must not share personal contact information with students and must only communicate through the Sponsor Relations team. Sponsors must notify the Sponsor Relations team in the event that a student, staff member or student’s family member contacts the sponsor in any other fashion.

You may write to the student whose scholarship you sponsor as often as you’d like.

Your sponsorship covers one student’s academic scholarship. This includes tuition, equipment, uniforms, transport, meals at school, and boarding for older students. It also contributes to the cost of maintaining facilities like computer labs and school grounds.

You are welcome to send gifts and letters, although many sponsors prefer to purchase one of our Gift Packs to avoid postage fees and lengthy delivery times.

The easiest way to communicate with the student whose academic scholarship you sponsor is via email – our Sponsor Relations team will print your email for the student.

If you’d like to send a gift, please ensure that it is age-appropriate. We suggest books, school equipment like backpacks and pencil cases, pens, pencils, sports equipment and activity books or novels.

Yes! Not every student’s academic scholarship is sponsored (although we wish this was the case). Students whose academic scholarship is unsponsored are covered by our unsponsored student fund, so that no family is expected to pay school fees.

Yes! The School of St Jude loves visitors! Check out their Visitors page for more information. They can even help you plan your visit, ensuring it’s a trip to remember.

Yes! Please contact The School of St Jude Donor Relations team and provide your name and travel dates so they can email a personalized letter to you which you can forward to your airline.

You can donate to The School of St Jude through the American Friends of St Jude’s website at this link. Thank you for considering making a donation!

Yes, simply select ‘monthly’ and specify an amount when you make a donation.

All donations to AFSJ made in the United States are tax deductible. For tax deductibility in other countries, read more about how you can donate to the School of St Judes.