Sara’s rise to success

Gorche, Sidama Region, Ethiopia - Sara’s ascent to success was filled with many challenges. She was a clever student, ranking top of her class throughout elementary and high school. As the eldest daughter in the house, she had to set a good example for her younger siblings.

“I always wanted to be responsible and make the best of my education so that my younger siblings understand the value of learning,” she says.  

Yet, when Sara was about to graduate from elementary school, she learned that someone was planning to abduct her if she refuses his hand in marriage. “I started to spend my time indoors, and I felt bad that my father, my brothers, and my uncles had to protect me so that I could take the regional exam.”  Later, a case was filed against the man, and authorities restrained him. 

Sara managed to progress to high school and then to college, where she studied to become a teacher, a profession she had always wanted to pursue since childhood.  “Teaching is a respected profession. I have always wanted to become a teacher.”

And when she started teaching in a rural school, her passion went beyond helping students acquire knowledge on the subject matter. She was rather keen on helping girls who faced the same challenge she had as a young girl. “Our society does not see the value of education for girls. It is not easy for them to pursue their dreams,” says Sara.

Sara continued teaching with passion, and her hard work was noticed not only by the school management but also by those who criticized her forward-thinking, challenging some societal norms. And in a few years, she was recommended to take a position as vice principal.

“There were many teachers who favoured me to take the position while others found it hard to be led by a woman.  So, I had to set aside their wrong perceptions and stay on my path rather than heeding their criticism.”

Sara did not stop there. She became the principal, a position that women rarely take in rural schools.

Earlier this year, another opportunity came her way. Sara was enrolled in a National School Leadership Training (NSLT) for teachers that is intended to enhance their pedagogical competencies and management skills. The initiative was part of the STEP (System Transformation of Education Programme), which is supported by the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) through UNICEF. Sara was already a principal in her school, but the training helped in her next move, to become deputy head to the woreda/district education bureau, another significant role in managing schools in her district.

“The training helped us to see our future. Many women are shy, and they don’t even understand the great potential they have. So, it helped us not to stay invisible.”

Sara is now the deputy head of her district’s education bureau.  Every time she visits the school where she served as a principal, she makes sure to spend time with fellow teachers and her students, especially with adolescent girls.  

“Sara always encourages us to be good students,” says Tsige Mathewos, 15, “While she was a principal here, she even covered classes when our teachers couldn’t make it for various reasons

Back home, she is a mother, taking care of her three children. “I am lucky to have a supporting husband who is a deputy principal of a high school. We discuss many issues and challenges in the academic environment. That helps me a lot.”

Sara hopes to continue her education and obtain her master’s degree. “That is something which I felt is missing. I know I can do it,” she says. For her, women can achieve their dreams when they persist in overcoming challenges.