Dar es Salaam Independent School

Up to the end of grade 9, the school follow Cambridge Assessment International Education Framework for Primary and Lower Secondary.

The Primary students in Class 6 and the Lower Secondary students in year 9 sit for the Cambridge Checkpoint examinations in English, Mathematics, Science, ICT and Global Perspective.

Grades 10 and 11 follow IGCSE syllabi of Cambridge Assessment International Education. Students sit for their IGCSE examination in 7-9 subjects, the majority of them in all 5 subject areas (Language 1 and 2, Math, Science, Humanities and Vocational Subjects).

Grades 12 and 13 complete their A-level education by sitting for GCE examinations as offered by Cambridge Assessment International Education. They usually opt for 3-4 subjects (out of a total of 15 subjects) in a wide range of combinations depending on interests, abilities and career expectations. Education at DIS aims at enabling every child to achieve their best. By stimulating interest in skills and the desire to increasingly understand and master the world around them, by fostering independent learning, all students are enabled to at least achieve Grade 11. Entry into A-level, however, is then subject to high level performance in their IGCSE examinations.

Though English is used as medium of instruction, Kiswahili, the national language, is taught as a subject of equal value to English and students are encouraged to use Kiswahili as well in conversations in school. Since a lot of emphasis is put on communication skills as an important tool in cross-cultural interaction, French is taught as a foreign language and regular school trips to France are organized every year.

All the secondary teaching staff are degree holders, besides that they are given many opportunities to increase their professionalism by attending courses and online training sessions as provided by CIE and other organisations, thus becoming role models for continuous learning. Students success and parents involvement are highly intertwined and its important for the school to keep in contact with parents all the time.