Give 1,800 students access to free, life-changing education in Tanzania, Africa. Donate today.
The School of St Jude provides free, quality education to 1,800 bright primary and secondary students who come from underprivileged backgrounds in Tanzania, East Africa.
In 2002, Gemma Sisia started The School of St Jude with 3 students and 1 teacher. Now, St Jude’s has 3 campuses, 1,800 students, 1,500+ alumni and over 350+ Tanzanian staff members.
Together, we’ve helped 88% of our graduates’ families rise out of extreme poverty, while watching our graduates grow into inspiring role models within their communities.
You can change a future today by making a contribution to a student’s education.
The School of St Jude is a pioneering leader in charitable education in Africa, providing free, high-quality education to 1,800 bright students from disadvantaged backgrounds in
Tanzania. We also support hundreds of graduates through higher education and provide volunteer teachers who help strengthen learning opportunities for more than 20,000 government school students each year.
Many of our students come from families living on less than AU$4.20 (US$3.20) per day. In Tanzania, only around 30% of secondary school-aged children are enrolled in secondary education, leaving many young people unable to reach their full potential. St Jude’s helps change this by selecting academically talented students whose education is at risk due to financial hardship and giving them the opportunity to thrive.
Guided by our values of Respect, Responsibility, Honesty and Kindness, we are committed to creating lasting impact with transparency and accountability. As a registered charity and international NGO, we undergo regular local and international audits and rely entirely on the generosity of supporters around the world to make our mission possible.
St Jude’s offers academic scholarships to students from local government schools who come from a poor background, and also demonstrate academic promise and a great attitude towards studies. With support from our international family of sponsors and donors, these scholarships help cover a student’s educational and boarding expenses, including:
We provide a holistic education that includes food, transport and a home away from home, with a focus on our students’ wellbeing and future success. As a result, we have
three schools filled with thriving students who achieve top academic results in the country and the skills and confidence to succeed and lead.
St Jude’s also supports hundreds of our graduates through higher education each year. We equip our students with job-readiness skills such as CV writing, interview preparation and networking. Through our Next Frontier Incubator and Small Grants Program, we help our students and alumni bring their entrepreneurial and social enterprise ideas to life. At the same time, we’re contributing to the local economy by working with over 300 local suppliers and employing more than 300 Tanzanian staff.
After completing secondary school, our graduates may apply to join Beyond St Jude’s (BSJ) program and continue on their transformative path to pursuing higher education. This involves two steps:
Our graduates will either volunteer at government schools where they can share their knowledge in schools or within the school’s Head Office. We support government schools to allow alumni to share their knowledge and support schools that are short-staffed where sometimes students don’t have access to teachers.
Since 2015, 1,200+ of our secondary school graduates have participated in the Community Service Program with more than 205,000 government school students having benefitted from being taught by Community Service volunteers to date.
Higher Education
Those who successfully complete their Community Service placement may then be eligible to receive a College or Tertiary scholarship to pursue their first higher education qualification. St Jude’s offers 118 full international scholarships and 400+ partial scholarships within Africa.
St Jude’s runs a strong alumni network offering support in finding employment and other opportunities. This is increased annually with more than 100+ tertiary graduates every year!
The School of St Jude Ltd is our fundraising partner in Australia, established to provide a solid legal foundation in Australia to support the school’s work in Tanzania. All donations made to The School of St Jude Ltd are made available to the school in Tanzania. Through The School of St Jude Ltd, our Australian supporters provide over 92% of all the funds used to support the school.
We also offer tax deductibility for donations in Australia, the U.S, United Kingdom, Canada and New Zealand.
American Friends of The School of St Jude (AFSJ) is the school’s funding support base in the U.S. Formed by long-time supporters of St Jude’s, AFSJ is a 501(c)(3) public charity with federal tax-exempt status in the U.S AFSJ provides financial and other support to The School of St Jude in Tanzania.
The support of our local community remains a cornerstone of St Jude’s success. In particular, our alumni and staff continue to contribute meaningfully through the Spirit Program, an initiative designed to foster engagement and encourage a culture of giving within the St Jude’s community. Launched as a platform to unite our key stakeholders, including supporters, students, families, alumni, local community members and staff, the Spirit Program sees both financial and non-financial contributions that support and advance the mission of St Jude’s.
