SEGA Students Overcome Challenges
January always marks new beginnings and this is especially true at SEGA where they started their new academic year with 69 Form 1 girls on January 11. The new students are excited to be a part of the SEGA sisterhood and are settling in well. Having completed a three-month English Fluency Program on-campus in the fall they are feeling ready to tackle the challenges of learning in English which is for many their third language.
As we reflect on this past year, we also pause to remember that many SEGA students face huge obstacles in their lives. They are so used to facing adversity that even COVID-19 didn’t stop them from achieving record-breaking national exam results in 2020 - setting a high bar for this year’s students.
We recently received SEGA’s 2020 Form 4 student scores and they did unbelievably well with 15 receiving Division 1 (the highest marks possible) and 25 receiving division 2. We have never had so many girls get Division 1 before and all of them passed for the third consecutive year! They achieved this while spending 3 and a half months at home, away from in-class studies due to the Tanzanian governmental mandated closure of schools in the spring. Thanks to the quick, thorough procedures the SEGA staff and Nurturing Minds undertook to protect students, all girls were safely sent home on private buses early in the pandemic and individual study packets for each student quickly followed.
Source: Asanta Sana for Education
Performing well on their national exams is critical for students to proceed to higher-level education. Based on test results, the government determines who is eligible for continued secondary school, Advanced “A” Level. By completing two years of A-Levels students can then quality for University. (Secondary school is divided into Ordinary, Forms 1-4 and Advanced, Forms 5-6. SEGA is an Ordinary-Level school.) If not selected to attend an A-level school, a student can be selected for a diploma program, equivalent to a 2-year college or she can pusue Vocational Training. Currently, last year’s Form 4 graduates are awaiting word from the government as to their educational placement opportunities.
The 2020 Form 2 girls scored even better on their exams and the full class advanced to Form 3. This is another high achievement because repeating is only allowed once. If a student fails a second time, the government dictates that she or he must drop out of school.
SEGA is now educating 276 girls on campus and the new Form 1 class have traveled from many Tanzanian regions to attend SEGA, including Morogoro Rural District in Eastern Tanzania, Dodoma Municipal in Central Tanzania and Iringa Region-Kilolo District in Southern Highlands.
Despite all its unforeseen hurdles, SEGA students ended 2020 with some of the highest accomplishments ever! Now, from the early start so far, we know that 2021 students are also up to whatever challenges come their way.
