From the Headmaster
A very warm welcome to Ikirwa. We are a small school with large expectations. Our pupils come from Midawe and the villages around it, and we ask of them what any good school asks: curiosity, effort, kindness and courage. In return we give them small classes, teachers who know them, two proper meals a day and the confidence that comes from learning in English from the age of four.
We believe in a rounded education. Academic results matter, and ours stand comparison with schools in Arusha, but so do sport, music, art and service to the community. We follow each child closely so that the able are stretched and those who need help receive it early.
If you are a parent, we would be delighted to show you round. If you are a supporter, thank you: much of what you see here exists because of people like you.
Jonas Joshua Massay, Headmaster
Our ethos
Ikirwa’s motto is What you imagine, you become. We take it literally. A child who can imagine herself as a doctor, an engineer or a teacher, and who has the English, the mathematics and the self-belief to pursue it, is a child whose life has changed course. That is the school’s whole purpose.
The school in brief
- Independent, non-profit, co-educational primary school, Nursery (age 4) to Class 7
- Around 200 pupils; day and boarding
- English-medium; Tanzanian national curriculum with national examinations at Class 4 and Class 7
- Eight classrooms, a dormitory, a kitchen and dining, two school buses, a school garden
- One place in five held for an Ikirwa Scholar on a fully funded place
- Founded 2012 on land donated by the Mbise family; opened with 22 pupils and four classrooms
Our founders
Gasper Naftal Mbise was born and raised in Midawe. He left school at fourteen to support his mother and two sisters, worked in the tanzanite mines, and saved enough to put himself through English language and guide school. He has guided on Kilimanjaro since 2004 and now runs Neeko Tours in Arusha. It was Gasper who proposed an English-medium school for his home village, gave his family’s land for it, and has managed it since the first day. Two of his sons are former pupils.
Maria (Masha) Skuratovskaya is an institutional portfolio manager who has worked at Freddie Mac, the World Bank and the Alaska Permanent Fund. She came to the United States from Russia as a teenager on scholarships, and Ikirwa is her tribute to the teachers who made that possible. She leads the Ikirwa School Project, the school’s American charity, from Juneau, Alaska.
Staff
Our teaching staff are Tanzanian, qualified and experienced. The Headmaster, Jonas Massay, joined in 2018 and has led the school since 2021. The Academic Master, Emmanuel Mapigano, specialises in ICT, mathematics and science. Senior staff teach as well as lead.
Governance and transparency
The school is supported by three volunteer-run charities: the Ikirwa School Project in the United States (a registered 501(c)(3)), and Midawe Hope e.V. and Moyo Elimu e.V. in Germany. National examination results are published annually and are available from the school office. Donors receive photographs and reports on what their gifts have funded.