The Education Program at the Sega Girls School

The Sega Girls School offers a secondary education that fosters the development of strong values, healthy self-esteem and independent thinking skills among its students. It seeks to be a center of excellence for teaching, learning and leadership development for vulnerable girls in both academic and life skills so that the Sega students will be able to provide for themselves and live fulfilling lives after school.  Academic Skills Participatory Learning Environment Teachers at the school have received training in participatory and experiential methods of teaching from both our long-term volunteer Participatory Learning Advisor and Foundation for Tomorrow, a Tanzanian-based US organization. The teachers are supporting one another as they begin to implement these techniques in the classroom, giving the students an excellent learning environment. Class Sizes, Books and Equipment Class sizes are limited to 30 students and there are desks, books and school equipment for each girl, so that they have the best possible chance of studying effectively.

The Sega Students are achieving success, with over 90% passing the Standard VII national exam compared to 49% nationally

Business Skills and Entrepreneurship   The Sega Students will learn hands-on business skills and entrepreneurship through internship opportunities to participate in operating school-run campus businesses. The Sega School has been selected as the operating base, and as a model school for developing small businesses to achieve financial self-sufficiency in East Africa by Fundacion Paraguaya/Teach a Man to Fish.  Funded by a Mastercard Foundation grant, these NGOs will provide financial and technical assistance to the school to set up on- and off-campus businesses, starting with a poultry farm.  Leadership Curriculum   Consulting with NGOs including CARE, the Population Council, the Girl Scouts and selected girls schools in the US, we are designing a leadership curriculum that will help the Sega Students' self-esteem and self-expression to flourish, providing them with skills to become leaders in their families and communities. Concepts and topics include providing supportive safe space for girls to learn, diverse and stimulating extra-curricular activities, community outreach/social responsibility opportunities, and emphasis on HIV/AIDS and early pregnancy prevention.  Organic Gardening   The Sega girls are taught the principles and techniques of bio-intensive gardening, which they apply to their own on-campus gardens. Each student maintains her own garden bed and produces vegetables.  The produce from the girls' gardens provides over half of the vegetables and fruit used by the school kitchen, and is also given to HIV/AIDS infected and other needy families in the community.  The Sega Students are thriving at all levels of development, with growing confidence and increased leadership skills displayed in the classroom, during extra-curricular activities, and in mentoring of fellow students.