Mgugu Secondary School, Tanzania

Established 2001

• 26 female students
• 21 male students
• 3 female teachers
• 3 male teachers

2009

• 247 female students
• 50 male students
• 3 female teachers
• 7 male teachers

Challenges

• Poverty
• Rural, isolated community
• Arid conditions
• Poor community understanding of importance of girls’ education

COE components

• Bursaries for underprivileged students
• Gender-Responsive Pedagogy training for teachers
• Tuseme youth empowerment programme
• Life skills training

Outcomes since creation*

• 62% improvement in performance in national exams
• 70% improvement in performance in end-of-year school exams
• 80% improvement in academic performance throughout the year
• 98% improvement in enrolment rates for girls
• 78% improvement in retention rates for girls
• 86% improvement in completion rates for girls
• 0.2%-29% improvement in transition rates to next level of education for girls
• 90% reduction in schoolgirl pregnancy rates
• 92% reduction in sexual harassment
• 80% of girls in school committees and other leadership roles

Girls are empowered to:

• Participate confidently
• Solve problems autonomously

Boys are empowered to:

• Have positive attitude towards girls

Girls and boys are empowered to:

• Have improved interaction and discussion
• Have healthier gender relations

“I am currently doing undergraduate studies at Dodoma University and conducting my fieldwork at FAWETZ, getting experience in education and gender equality. I was a student at Mgugu Secondary School from 2002 to 2005. I gained a lot from FAWE’s role while I was there. Science subjects were regarded as being for boys only so girls were not really involved in these subjects. But FAWETZ conducted Science camps to encourage girls to enrol in Science subjects. I also benefited from remedial classes which really enhanced girls’ academic performance.”

Zawadi Abbas
20 years
Dodoma University

“I am training to be a teacher. I was sponsored by FAWE from Form 1 to my current level of education. I received not only financial support but life skills training through Tuseme clubs. Through Tuseme, I became confident and cheerful. In 2004, I participated in the Tuseme festival at the Univeristy of Dar es Salaam.   I met a lot of talented girls and this helped me to become more and more confident in myself and in other girls.”

Cheka Omary
23 years
Kasulu Teachers’ College