Girls Secondary Education Initiative

In Malawi, less than 15% of women have any years of secondary school education, with 42% of girls married before the age of 18. Given the magnitude of this challenge, Firelight believes that community-based organizations can play a significant role in rethinking and redesigning local approaches to secondary school and helping parents make the investment in secondary education for their girls. We support two community-based organizations and two local non-governmental organizations in improving the transition, persistence, and exam pass rates for girls in Malawi’s Community Day Secondary Schools. With tailored capacity building in organizational development, human-centered design, and social accountability, Firelight supports these four organizations to work with communities, students, teachers, local leaders, and government officials to develop and adapt innovative approaches to their unique community contexts.