ASEW supports vulnerable young women who have not been able to attend secondary school due to conflict, poverty and early pregnancy and enables them to complete their secondary school in just 2.5 years. ASEW is a unique approach as it's the only documented accelerated secondary education programme globally and so provides a model for how secondary education can be achieved efficiently in a low resource and conflict affected area.
Poverty and conflict often disrupt children's education and can prevent them from attending school for years at a time. This patchy education means that many young people finish primary school in their late teens. They then face pressure from within their family and community to establish themselves as adults rather than finish school. This can be particularly true for girls, who can face enormous pressure to marry and establish families quickly.
An accelerated secondary school programme is a recognised way for young people to achieve a secondary school certificate without undertaking four years of full-time study. The adapted course is offered part-time, with classes only taking up two or three hours a day. This allows women to earn an income and fulfil any family and household obligations alongside their studies.
Sudan has one of the lowest rates for girls' enrolment and completion of secondary school in the world. The expansion of this type of project will help provide secondary certificates to many more women in South Sudan. It also provides hope for the huge number of young people, both women and men, whose education and opportunities have been disrupted yet again by the outbreak of violence and conflict.
