One Class Graduates. Another Begins.

On September 19, 100 girls at Studio Samuel Girls Academy graduated ready to take their next steps toward university, employment, and futures of their own choosing.

Today, October 6, we welcome our next class of 100 girls.

One hundred girls graduating. One hundred more taking their first steps forward.

At SSGA, education is more than sitting in a classroom. It is girls having access to the academic support, practical skills, health education, technology, confidence, and community they need to stay in school and determine what comes next.

This year’s graduating class gave us another powerful reminder of what that support, your

support, makes possible.

67% Passed the Grade 12 National Exam

Ethiopia’s Grade 12 national examination remains an extraordinary hurdle for students. This year, only 12.8% of students nationwide who sat for the exam achieved the passing mark required for direct university admission.

Among SSGA’s Grade 12 students who took the exam, 67% passed. That is more than five times the national pass rate.

And now, 80% of our Grade 12 test takers are headed to university.

These numbers represent much more than academic achievement. Behind each one is a young woman who has worked toward a future that poverty, gender inequality, and limited access to educational resources can make extraordinarily difficult to reach.

Education Is Her Protection

For many of the girls we serve, staying in school is not just about earning better grades.

Education can reduce her vulnerability to forced early marriage, child labor, unsafe migration, and gender-based violence. It can expand the choices available to her and increase her ability to earn an income, advocate for herself, and shape her own future.

That is why we say: Education is Her Protection.

Our Training for Tomorrow program works alongside traditional school, providing girls with the additional resources they need to persist and succeed. Through academic tutoring, digital literacy, vocational and employable skills, health education, life skills, and mentorship, girls are surrounded by a community invested in their potential.

And Now, 100 New Journeys Begin

Today, October 6, the desks fill again. A new class of 100 girls enter Studio Samuel Girls Academy, beginning the same journey our graduates once began themselves.

They arrive with different stories, different challenges, and different dreams. Over the coming year, they will learn new skills, strengthen their academic foundations, build confidence, and begin seeing possibilities for their futures that may not have seemed possible before.

And they will do it knowing that the girls who came before them have shown what can happen when opportunity meets determination.

From 100 graduates on September 19 to 100 new students on October 6, the cycle continues.

One girl graduates. And another future begins.