Graduation Day at Awet

Awet Secondary School was buzzing last Thursday as graduation ceremonies were held for the Form four students. Of course, they haven't actually graduated yet -- they write their exams in October -- but everybody forgot that little detail for the day and had a really fun time. Our summer volunteers, who are now back home in North America, will be pleased to know that Awet brought in DJs with an excellent sound system from Karatu town (run on generator) and we danced to Marlaw's "Pi Pi" on autoplay...

On a serious note, keeping in mind that Awet Secondary School is the top performer in Karatu District and 17th out of 78 secondary schools in Arusha Region, school statistics from 2008 show that of a total of 122 Form four students (65 girls and 57 boys), only 12 girls but 41 boys qualified for acceptance into A levels (Form five and six), the entrance way to higher education. Another 37 girls scored Division "four", which although considered a pass does not gain them acceptance into A levels, and 13 girls were out of the running completely.

Students throughout Tanzania write standardized national exams, and this is a challenge especially for rural schools where it's a constant struggle to attract and retain good teachers and just keep up with day to day living.  But the low performance of girls is very disturbing. We hope to help turn this around at Awet with support for the girls' hostel, which will allow girls to escape most of the drudgery of endless chores and focus instead on their education, and a continued focus on gender issues and creating an environment in which girls can build their self-confidence.