The Secondary Education for Girls Advancement (SEGA) School
The SEGA Girls School is a residential secondary school in Tanzania that educates vulnerable girls who are unable to attend school due to extreme poverty. SEGA was founded in 2008 and graduated its first class in 2013 and is primarily funded and supported by Nurturing Minds. The purpose of the SEGA Girls Secondary School is to improve the quality of life for vulnerable Tanzanian girls. The majority of SEGA Students were forced to drop-out of school due to extreme poverty, or were deemed at high risk of dropping out, but are bright and motivated. They have been selected from over 20 different communities from throughout the country, half of the girls are orphans and all come from families who are too poor to pay the school fees necessary for them to enter secondary school. Due to their inability to pay for school many girls are forced to become child laborers, “house girls” or sell ice cream or fruit in the market to help support their family’s income. Thanks to SEGA these girls are now able to continue their studies. SEGA also provides girls with a single gender education, the benefits of which have been well documented and show girls’ academic performance, class participation and self-esteem all improve tremendously in this environment. In addition, girls with a secondary education have half as many children, earn seven times more income and are ten times less likely to become pregnant as teenagers than those without an education.
The school currently serves over 250 girls annually and uses a holistic approach including an academic program that follows the required Tanzanian government curriculum; entrepreneurship skills development; and a comprehensive personal development, life skills and leadership program called “Education for Life”, specially designed to address the needs of economically disadvantaged girls.
According to the Global Development Guardian in 2011, Tanzania is one of the poorest countries in the world and has one of the lowest secondary school enrollment rates, and one of the highest dropout rates of girls – only one in four girls continues past 7th grade to secondary school. SEGA Students graduate with a high school diploma and are empowered to make changes in their own lives and also in their families and communities.
The school currently serves over 250 girls annually and uses a holistic approach including an academic program that follows the required Tanzanian government curriculum; entrepreneurship skills development; and a comprehensive personal development, life skills and leadership program called “Education for Life”, specially designed to address the needs of economically disadvantaged girls.
According to the Global Development Guardian in 2011, Tanzania is one of the poorest countries in the world and has one of the lowest secondary school enrollment rates, and one of the highest dropout rates of girls – only one in four girls continues past 7th grade to secondary school. SEGA Students graduate with a high school diploma and are empowered to make changes in their own lives and also in their families and communities.
