Celebrating Women and Girls in Science
The International Day of Women and Girls in Science is the 11th day of February, by resolution of the United Nations General Assembly. The day recognizes the critical role women and girls play in science and technology. Thanks to the dedication of Mr. Adam Sanga, and SEGA’s outstanding science program, students are offered exceptional opportunities to learn and later follow their passions in university study and onto science careers. Join us this February in celebrating women and girls in science!
Mr. Sanga, SEGA’s Chemistry teacher and Head of the Science Department
Internationally, the month of February pays tribute each year to Women and Girls in Science. This is particularly pertinent in Tanzania because, according to UNESCO, women there represent 40 percent of university enrollment, but only about 24 percent are enrolled in science, engineering and technology fields.
Yet, Tanzania’s unusually rich offering of wildlife and environment has attracted many women scientists whose ground-breaking accomplishments are recognized around the world: Tanzanian scientist, Professor Julie Mukani, is recognized internationally for her extraordinary work on sickle cell disease. Jane Goodall, a British primatologist and anthropologist, went to the Gombe Stream National Park in Tanzania in 1960 and became the world’s expert on chimpanzees. Mary Leakey, a British paleoanthropologist, along with her husband, discovered a direct link between the evolution of apes and humans while excavating at the Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania.
Under the direction of Mr. Sanga, SEGA’s students have a wonderful opportunity to also be celebrated around the world someday for their scientific achievements. Born in Tanzania, in the Southern Highland Region of Mbeya in Tukuyu Rungwe District, Mr. Sanga has been at SEGA for 10 years and is the Chemistry teacher and Head of the Science Department.
SEGA’s science program is based on the Tanzanian Ministry of Education Curriculum in which Mathematics and Biology are compulsory subjects. Physics and Chemistry are taught in Forms I and II but are optional in Forms III and IV.
As to unique advantages SEGA offers students, Mr. Sanga says, “SEGA’s science labs and apparatuses play a significant role in the students’ performance. Also helpful to encouraging students’ interest in science is that SEGA has extra academic programs, remedial support, and clubs for interested students.”
One of the challenges Mr. Sanga notes are that girls, unlike boys, are still unusually reluctant to pursue science subjects. They continue to need more encouragement. This is all the more reason that the annual February celebration of Women and Girls in Science is critical because its purpose is just that - to recognize the critical role women and girls play in science and technology and to help them achieve full and equal access to science.
Mr. Sanga makes the safety of his students a top priority in his classroom and all experiments done in labs follow safety precautions and protocols to keep the students safe. Many of these experiments cause great excitement and surprise among the girls. For example, when testing hydrogen gas, a flame is dipped into a jar of hydrogen. It may produce a big bang and the girls usually jump in startled surprise with shouts of “oooh Wow!” while touching their hearts before relaxing with laughter.
Or another experiment that produces an unexpected reaction among the students is when he teaches them about putting a large piece of sodium metal in water - the size of a maize seed. The metal will move in quick zig-zag motions, hiss, produce a choking gas, and then the metal finally burns into flames and explodes loudly.
We are very thankful to have the incredibly talented and passionate Mr. Adam Sanga as SEGA’s Chemistry teacher and Head of the Science Department.
In combination with SEGA’s resources and commitment to the science program, we can celebrate the following graduates who are following their dreams of having a career in science (and these are just a few):
2017 Graduates
Amina S., Nursing
Hawa P., Electrical Engineering
Hellena B., Pharmacy
2016 Graduates
Rose L., Environmental Science
Foida M., Agriculture
Yustina J., Bachelor of Agriculture
2015 Graduates
Evelyn G., Bachelor of Medical Laboratory
Antonia R., Bachelor of Aquaculture
Watende A., Nursing