In 2008, the American-based nonprofit Nurturing Minds established the SEGA School to provide a pathway for Tanzanian girls to receive a secondary education. Its mission focused on addressing an urgent problem for Tanzania’s young women: just 24% of adolescent girls received a secondary education, according to UNESCO.
While Tanzania had made great strides in expanding access to primary education for both boys and girls – with enrollment rates over 95% – societal pressures and chronic lack of government investment meant that the country’s next generation of women were not receiving the skillset to improve their social and economic standing.
The SEGA School (Secondary Education for Girls Advancement) works to reverse this trend. Situated 5 hours from Dar es Salaam in Central Tanzania, the houses nearly 300 full-time boarding students. The holistic curriculum provides students with a broad range of knowledge and life skills – ranging from textile manufacturing, to agriculture, to science and mathematics – that will prepare them to thrive in future studies and excel in their chosen career path later in life.
In the 12 years since its founding, the school continues to put its graduates on a pathway to becoming tomorrow’s leaders in science, medicine and business. Nearly all of the school’s graduates continue their education to pursue certificates in nursing, teaching, business administration or non-profit management. Many students also choose to enroll in higher education.
As the school enters its second decade, expansion plans are in the works. The administration hopes to be at over 600 students in 3-5 years. Surely this will only enhance SEGA’s already outsized impact.