About Us

Welcome to Bethsaida Girls Secondary School
Bethsaida Girls Secondary School is a home and education centre for over 161 young orphaned and vulnerable girls from different communities in Tanzania. The school is the outreach arm of the Bethsaida Orphans Education Centre (BOEC) which was formerly known as Olof Palme Orphans Education Centre (OPOEC), ) is a Non-Governmental Organization registered under the Societies Ordinance, 1994 with Registration Certificate No. S.A. 12458 of 21 April 2004. Later on 17 February 2005 the Centre was issued with a Certificate of Compliance as a Non – Governmental Organization (NGO) No. 1402 under the Non – Governmental Organizations Act, 2002
Later on 1st of April, 2011 the name was changed as Bethsaida Orphans Education Centre; the name which was given in relation to the name of the secondary school owned by the Centre the so-called Bethsaida Girls Secondary School which is an institution that is committed to support free secondary education to orphaned and vulnerable girls across the communities in Tanzania.
BOEC recruits its girls from regions all over Tanzania, focusing on girls in particular need, be it dire financial or social circumstances, and girls who have lost both of their parents. Since our opening in 2005, we have added a new class of Form I students every year; we currently teach more than 161 young women between the ages of 13 and 19 the National Curriculum for Form I -IV. Our future plan is to expand the school to include Forms V and VI, thereby allowing our girls to complete their secondary education and qualify for university scholarships.

Education
Bethsaida follows the standard Tanzanian Curriculum structure, preparing its students in Forms I, II, III and IV to take the national “O Level” exams at the completion of their Form IV year. Two additional years following Form IV – Forms V and VI - are required to take the advanced "A Level exams”, prerequisites for attending university in Tanzania. Bethsaida is hoping to offer Forms V and VI in the future, but the school cannot afford to hire the additional teachers with advanced A-level training at this time. Bethsaida is hoping to find enough sponsors to hire these teachers beginning in future.
During their four years at Bethsaida the girls study English, Kiswahili, History, Geography, Civics, Mathematics, Chemistry, Biology, and Physics. All classes, with the exception of Kiswahili, are taught and tested in English.

At the end of every school year, the girls sit for comprehensive examinations in each of their nine subjects.
These are especially important for Forms II and IV as their results will be decide whether or not the girls may continue their secondary education in Forms V and VI.

Bethsaida is very proud of its current standings—most of our girls come to us from extraordinarily disadvantaged backgrounds; many of them speak practically no English when they arrive. To make such rapid progress is a testament to the dedication of both Bethsaida’s students and their teachers!