By Jason Doherty | Founder of Daraja Academy
Look out World, there is a powerful storm brewing and its epicenter is at Daraja Academy. The results from the 2014 Kenyan Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) national exam are out and they cannot be ignored! Girls’ lives are changing as they grow to be powerful, intelligent leaders and girls’ education is changing right along with them.
As a whole, this last class of test takers set a new standard of excellence at the school. In Kenya, graduates who receive a score of around 60 or higher, a grade of B, are assisted to university by the Kenyan government, student with a C- or higher are given loans to attend 3 year college courses.
EVERY SINGLE STUDENT FROM THE CLASS OF 2014 RECEIVED A C- OR HIGHER, ALL WILL BE GOING TO UNIVERSITY OR COLLEGE!
This is a first at Daraja and a total game changer for girls who 4 years ago could not have gone to secondary school. If the Ministry of Education uses the same benchmark it did last year, 12 girls from this class will be attending universities across Kenya soon.
These are no longer just smart, lovable high school students; they are the nurses, teachers, paramedics and business owners of our future. They will follow their truths into the world of professional adults with a tool kit full of lessons learned during four years of WISH class and the Daraja Transition program. They have learned that they are not defined by the views of others, but by their own hard earned beliefs and ideals. Girls CAN BE good at math and science… kindness is not a weakness… each day you leave it better than you found it.
Please watch the short video below and remember two things. First, the genuine, frenzied reaction to the KCSE results is not that of the relieved recipients, but their proud “younger sisters.” Secondly, notice the different tribes and religions equally excited for their “older sisters” – those are young leaders who refuse to recognize the traditional divides of their predecessors… those are future change makers united by love and hope, those are the amazing girls of Daraja!
Thank you for equally believing in the dream,
Links:
Project reports on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.org by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.
If you donate to this project or have donated to this project, you can receive an email when this project posts a report. You can also subscribe for reports without donating.
