As more than 1 million class seven pupils countrywide start their National Primary Examinations on Wednesday, September 12., among them there is an odd candidate. The strangely handicapped 17-year-old Emmanuel Abdiel Urio, of Tuvaila Primary School, in Arumeru District. He has neither arms nor legs.
For the past seven years of his primary education, Emmanuel, who was born with only a head and torso, has been using his chin and shoulders to ‘clamp’ a pen when writing. Despite this serious handicap, the limbless pupil is however expected to complete writing his examination papers within the same time slots allocated to other normal candidates.
"No problem I can manage!" said the overconfident Emmanuel when we visited him in his class early this week. "At the moment I am very much used to my style of writing, if fact, I usually accomplish my class work faster than most pupils," he maintained.
But despite his capabilities, shouldn’t something be done to ensure that Emmanuel who only has a head and limbless torso is given special treatment during examination time? The school Headmaster, Julius Elibariki Maturo, pointed out that, it was probably the first ever case to occur in the entire Region and possibly also in the whole of Tanzania.
"But Emmanuel has been doing well both in his class level exams and the recent Mock examinations neither of which he ever needed any special assistance," said the head teacher. "His is a very rare case, normally the pupils who are given special treatment and extra time allocation during examinations are the blind and mentally handicapped."
Tuvaila Primary School, is found within the remote Tuvaila village, an area located about two kilometers from the ‘Maji-ya-chai’ shopping center. Maji-ya-Chai area is situated over 30 kilometers from Arusha town, along the main Moshi-Arusha highway. For the first time in History, this institution is going to produce a candidate without both the lower and upper limbs, to sit for the 2007 National Examinations for Standard Seven.
Emmanuel will be the only handicapped candidate sitting for the final papers at the school this year. "Tuvaila Primary has a total of 14 mentally retarded pupils, among them five girls but these, being in lower class, will sit for the exams next year.
But for Emmanuel himself, the forthcoming exams that are to take place on both Wednesday, September 12 and Thursday, September 13 are just as normal academic sessions as any other class work. After all, in the previous exams he still managed to beat most of his classmates despite being handicapped. According to his head teacher, the most recent test which was used to grade the candidates at the school, Emmanuel finished in the 50th position out of 114 pupils. This means the limbless boy defeated 64 other class-seven students.
"He writes very well using his chin and shoulders," said the deputy headmaster. " The lacks of upper limbs is still a major stumbling block when it comes to reading. He does it with great difficulties, " said another teacher at school.
Emmanuel used to attend school daily on his customized wheel chair which also served as his desk while in class. Missing both his upper and lower limbs, Emmanuel would probably need constant caring while at school.
"Not at all!" says the headmaster. "However he never goes to the school toilet and prefers to be whisked back home whenever he feels the call of nature." According to Maturo, Emmanuel likes to keep some of his personal affairs extremely private and only few trusted friends are allowed to escort him home when attending bathroom.
"You see I find the school toilets to be rather scary!" Said Emmanuel with a smirk. As it seems he would rather avoid them altogether and has been steering clear of school toilets throughout his primary school days. His teachers at school admit that, should the handicapped boy feel like going to the toilet on exam days, he may want to be taken back home. Emmanuel lives half a kilometer from school.
"Lets hope it won’t come to that, at least it never happened during past examination sessions, but should it occur this time, we hope the invigilators will understand," said the head teacher."Emmanuel is my fifth born," said his mother Magdalena Ephata, "Unfortunately my other children died I am now left with three boys: Emmanuel and his two brothers." Magdalena aged 39, explained that when still a small child her son had a very bad start in school.
"This was the result of trauma he had suffered at a local "child care" center in Arusha where he was taken to stay and where he lived for almost a year. "I no longer trust these NGOs and charitable homes," reflects the mother sadly. "My son almost died there, they used to beat him badly, he was also neglected and almost starved due to inadequate food."
The boy's father died when Emmanuel was only eight years old. Also dead are the boy's elder siblings.Coming from a poor family, Emmanuel and his brothers depend on their mother who earns her living by working as a hired labourer in local farms. "But one thing for sure, I make it my sole responsibility that my children eat very well."
For the past seven years of his primary education, Emmanuel, who was born with only a head and torso, has been using his chin and shoulders to ‘clamp’ a pen when writing. Despite this serious handicap, the limbless pupil is however expected to complete writing his examination papers within the same time slots allocated to other normal candidates.
"No problem I can manage!" said the overconfident Emmanuel when we visited him in his class early this week. "At the moment I am very much used to my style of writing, if fact, I usually accomplish my class work faster than most pupils," he maintained.
But despite his capabilities, shouldn’t something be done to ensure that Emmanuel who only has a head and limbless torso is given special treatment during examination time? The school Headmaster, Julius Elibariki Maturo, pointed out that, it was probably the first ever case to occur in the entire Region and possibly also in the whole of Tanzania.
"But Emmanuel has been doing well both in his class level exams and the recent Mock examinations neither of which he ever needed any special assistance," said the head teacher. "His is a very rare case, normally the pupils who are given special treatment and extra time allocation during examinations are the blind and mentally handicapped."
Tuvaila Primary School, is found within the remote Tuvaila village, an area located about two kilometers from the ‘Maji-ya-chai’ shopping center. Maji-ya-Chai area is situated over 30 kilometers from Arusha town, along the main Moshi-Arusha highway. For the first time in History, this institution is going to produce a candidate without both the lower and upper limbs, to sit for the 2007 National Examinations for Standard Seven.
Emmanuel will be the only handicapped candidate sitting for the final papers at the school this year. "Tuvaila Primary has a total of 14 mentally retarded pupils, among them five girls but these, being in lower class, will sit for the exams next year.
But for Emmanuel himself, the forthcoming exams that are to take place on both Wednesday, September 12 and Thursday, September 13 are just as normal academic sessions as any other class work. After all, in the previous exams he still managed to beat most of his classmates despite being handicapped. According to his head teacher, the most recent test which was used to grade the candidates at the school, Emmanuel finished in the 50th position out of 114 pupils. This means the limbless boy defeated 64 other class-seven students.
"He writes very well using his chin and shoulders," said the deputy headmaster. " The lacks of upper limbs is still a major stumbling block when it comes to reading. He does it with great difficulties, " said another teacher at school.
Emmanuel used to attend school daily on his customized wheel chair which also served as his desk while in class. Missing both his upper and lower limbs, Emmanuel would probably need constant caring while at school.
"Not at all!" says the headmaster. "However he never goes to the school toilet and prefers to be whisked back home whenever he feels the call of nature." According to Maturo, Emmanuel likes to keep some of his personal affairs extremely private and only few trusted friends are allowed to escort him home when attending bathroom.
"You see I find the school toilets to be rather scary!" Said Emmanuel with a smirk. As it seems he would rather avoid them altogether and has been steering clear of school toilets throughout his primary school days. His teachers at school admit that, should the handicapped boy feel like going to the toilet on exam days, he may want to be taken back home. Emmanuel lives half a kilometer from school.
"Lets hope it won’t come to that, at least it never happened during past examination sessions, but should it occur this time, we hope the invigilators will understand," said the head teacher."Emmanuel is my fifth born," said his mother Magdalena Ephata, "Unfortunately my other children died I am now left with three boys: Emmanuel and his two brothers." Magdalena aged 39, explained that when still a small child her son had a very bad start in school.
"This was the result of trauma he had suffered at a local "child care" center in Arusha where he was taken to stay and where he lived for almost a year. "I no longer trust these NGOs and charitable homes," reflects the mother sadly. "My son almost died there, they used to beat him badly, he was also neglected and almost starved due to inadequate food."
The boy's father died when Emmanuel was only eight years old. Also dead are the boy's elder siblings.Coming from a poor family, Emmanuel and his brothers depend on their mother who earns her living by working as a hired labourer in local farms. "But one thing for sure, I make it my sole responsibility that my children eat very well."
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