By Grace Murika | Country Director
The release of the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) in Mid-January 2025 was a moment of jubilation for the WISER fraternity. For the twelfth straight year, in a region where less than 7% of girls finish high school, 100% of the WISER girls graduated with 0% drop out rate. The WISER class of 2024 is full of academic high-achievers who have proven that, through hard work and holistic support, girls from an disadvantaged rural area can compete with anyone in Kenya. Their exemplary performance ranked them among the top 100 schools nationally out of over 11000 secondary schools in Kenya. This graduating class boasts not only a 100% graduation rate, but a 100% tertiary education qualifying rate, meaning that every WISER graduate in the class of 2024 will be able to pursue a college or university degree, a rate that is more than four times the national average.
This great performance is significant especially in the Kenyan Education system in relation to girls’ empowerment; it is a win for gender equality and an investment for the future, it ensures that the girls have access to economic independence and opens for them doors to diverse and highly competitive career paths including those that were previously male-dominated. Educated girls are more likely to take up leadership roles in the society thereby influencing transformative and innovative change in their communities. Studies show that educated girls invest more in their families leading to socio-economic growth, breaking cycles of poverty and improving their education and health outcomes. Overall, the academic success contributes to the girls’ agency.
It has not been an easy path for the girls to get this far. They have survived through all odds including the COVID pandemic period that had the school calendar delayed for 9 months. While other schools reported high rates of girls dropping out of school during this period, WISER had 0% drop-out rate. Their story is one of courage, hard work and determination. One of the top girls and student leaders had this to say about their class, “Thank you WISER for leading us to be champions, we as class 2024 we are grateful, because WISER has made us so…they say there is light at the end of the tunnel…indeed we have seen it!
As we celebrate these girls, we also celebrate each one of you that has made their education journey a success. Your support will be imprinted forever in their life stories as they transition to excel as champions for change!
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