There will be many parents happy to read those words tomorrow, Monday, morning: "Your child has been chosen." Others won't be so happy when they read "Mtoto hakuchaguliwa" -- "Your child was not chosen." And I hope others are hopeful when they read "second selection," otherwise known as wait-listed.
Our turn-around time would be quick by US standards -- within ten days of testing. By Tanzanian standards we are slower than the slowest tortoise regarding announcing admissions decisions. No apologies from me in that regard. I've taken the time to correct exams (with some great help), develop criteria, fine-tune documents, and prepare for the announcement.
When our gates here at the parish compound close tonight, I will post the results so they will be available for viewing tomorrow. At 6:00 a.m. I will inform those out of town by SMS of their status -- and in the absence of a school website, I will direct folks to go to a blogger site for further information (e.g., the criteria used for admission, their child's scores, and for those admitted instructions re: registration, etc.).
Disappointments? One great one: that we didn't have more girls test. We have accepted only 65, even after applying different criteria. That is 5 fewer than we need for a complete class. In the coming weeks we'll figure out how to proceed.
On Wednesday I'll be available for appeals -- I will have put on my armour and chilled my heart, so I think I'll be ready. In these next two days while I'm evading disappointed parents a bit, I'll be finishing an article about education and development for a Spanish journal. Thursday is a national holiday (Nyerere Day -- my favourite national holiday!); I'll spend it with some friends (a mix of ex-pats and Tanzanians involved in work with ngo's and at local hospitals) at a picnic site on a lake about 40 kilometres outside of the city. I spent Friday evening with this same crew eating kiti moto (pork) and solving all the world's troubles -- it was a needed break after some few hellacious weeks.
Soon we'll be putting to use the generosity of so many, offering assistance to those families who need it in order to attend Saint Peter Claver High School at Our Lady Queen of Peace Educational Centre.
And that, my friends, is all the news that's fit to print.
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