Members of the Soitsambu Secondary School Girls Club
Education Programme
PWC works to address the dis-empowerment and marginalisation of women and girls in pastoralist areas. Lack of education opportunities for girls is a major manifestation of this and creates problems for pastoralist and agro-pastoralist societies in many different ways. For example, in Maasailand there are no Maasai nurses who can speak Maasai so patients in the hospital can’t communicate their needs. As there are no highly educated Maasai women there is no one to fight for their rights to address the inequality between Maasai men and women.
In an area where education standards are low, facilities inadequate and enrolment poor, the real significance of the education project lies in the opportunity it gives to Maasai and Sonjo girls who otherwise would have no hope of going to school to pursue higher education. The programme runs throughout Ngorongoro District and focuses on getting girls into schools and colleges and creating awareness within the community and local government about the need to support girl’s education. We seek to invest in girl’s education by building their capacities (skills, knowledge & change of attitude) through:
Girls Sponsorships - We provide financial support for secondary and further education to girls who are academically strong but financially weak. We have a Pre-Form One project to both counsel and prepare girls before entering into secondary school as well as reducing the risk of forced marriage. Read girls sponsorship stories here…
Girls Internships – We receive secondary school graduates and secure work placements for a one-year period before the young women continue higher education. This also helps the women avoid unwanted marriages. These girls are usually destitute (as their families can’t afford to support them or have rejected them for refusing to marry) and require full support from us for their living expenses.
Emanyata Secondary School – We have been managing Emanyata Secondary School since the Aigwanak Trust handed us control in 2006. Because it is a community school, ESS has the freedom to admit more typically disadvantaged students, many of whom have not been accepted to local government schools. As it is a boarding school girls are away from home and therefore better able to resist family pressure to drop out of school to marry. To learn more about PWC's work with Emanyata School please click here.
In an area where education standards are low, facilities inadequate and enrolment poor, the real significance of the education project lies in the opportunity it gives to Maasai and Sonjo girls who otherwise would have no hope of going to school to pursue higher education. The programme runs throughout Ngorongoro District and focuses on getting girls into schools and colleges and creating awareness within the community and local government about the need to support girl’s education. We seek to invest in girl’s education by building their capacities (skills, knowledge & change of attitude) through:
Girls Sponsorships - We provide financial support for secondary and further education to girls who are academically strong but financially weak. We have a Pre-Form One project to both counsel and prepare girls before entering into secondary school as well as reducing the risk of forced marriage. Read girls sponsorship stories here…
Girls Internships – We receive secondary school graduates and secure work placements for a one-year period before the young women continue higher education. This also helps the women avoid unwanted marriages. These girls are usually destitute (as their families can’t afford to support them or have rejected them for refusing to marry) and require full support from us for their living expenses.
Emanyata Secondary School – We have been managing Emanyata Secondary School since the Aigwanak Trust handed us control in 2006. Because it is a community school, ESS has the freedom to admit more typically disadvantaged students, many of whom have not been accepted to local government schools. As it is a boarding school girls are away from home and therefore better able to resist family pressure to drop out of school to marry. To learn more about PWC's work with Emanyata School please click here.
|
Community Nursery Schools – PWC helps communities found and run nursery schools for young children in order to kick-start their education and increase their chances of successfully attending primary school. We currently support 24 Nursery Schools with over 1,500 children attending them. We are responsible for providing reading materials and training teachers; parents pay a monthly fee to the nurseries to cover staff salaries ensuring the schools sustainability.
|
|
Construction of Schools - We raise funds to facilitate community’s construction of schools in and lobby government to build schools and girls dormitories. In 2010 we assisted in raising funds for six Primary Schools, positively impacting the lives of 1,438 children. In 2012 Ngorongoro District Council agreed to build a new girls boarding secondary school.
Training for School Committees – We train school committees on girls rights to an education, the committees own rights and responsibilities, government policies on education and what assistance they are entitled to from the government. The training aims to ensure women are represented on committees and that Maasai men to see the benefits of female education and change their opinions on early marriages.
Training for School Committees – We train school committees on girls rights to an education, the committees own rights and responsibilities, government policies on education and what assistance they are entitled to from the government. The training aims to ensure women are represented on committees and that Maasai men to see the benefits of female education and change their opinions on early marriages.
Girls Clubs – PWC believes it is essential to equip girls with the knowledge and skills that will allow them to defend and protect their basic human rights. Therefore, PWC runs girls clubs in 10 secondary schools to give girls a safe and confidential space to discuss issues such as HIV, domestic violence, forced marriage and early pregnancy. PWC trains selected students to be peer educators so they can provide support to other girls as most secondary schools in the areas PWC works do not have any female teachers or matrons.
My Rights My Voice - This project seeks to introduce democratically elected school barazas (councils) as a medium for developing students leadership skills. Empowered students then use their new-found advocacy skills to defend their educational entitlements. As well as female students becoming effective leaders in schools and communities the project demands that parents become more involved in their children's education and take further responsibility to ensure adequate provision of service and teaching. 3,500 students across 6 primary schools and 4 secondary schools have been targeted by the project.
My Rights My Voice - This project seeks to introduce democratically elected school barazas (councils) as a medium for developing students leadership skills. Empowered students then use their new-found advocacy skills to defend their educational entitlements. As well as female students becoming effective leaders in schools and communities the project demands that parents become more involved in their children's education and take further responsibility to ensure adequate provision of service and teaching. 3,500 students across 6 primary schools and 4 secondary schools have been targeted by the project.
Song and Dance Workshops - Pastoralist communities are traditionally reluctant to educate girls. PWC runs workshops with primary school girls using traditional Maasai song and dance that teaches parents and communities the importance of enrolling girls in primary school. Workshops are also run in schools and with local government officials to ensure they are supporting girls education and facilities in schools reach national standards. Watch this short clip, made by our partner African Initiatives, of some of the girls we work with preparing a song to perform to their parents explaining why they must be allowed to go to school:
Copyright 2006-2016 – Pastoral Women’s Council (PWC). PWC is a Tanzanian registered charity SO.no.10180
