Rwandan girls win scholarship to S.A Leadership Academy

Three students from Gashora Girls Academy of Science and Technology have won scholarships to study at the African Leadership Academy (ALA) located on the outskirts of Johannesburg, South Africa.The Senior five students, set to join the prestigious school in September this year, are Chantal Mahoro Uwiringiyimana, Divine Mutoni and Elisabeth Mukayuhi.Speaking to The New Times, the girls were very excited, saying it was way beyond their expectations.“Just like the other contestants, I wished for the best. I couldn’t help but worry about not being one of the lucky winners. It did not come on a silver platter - every one of us worked extremely hard,” Mukayuhi said.Peter Thorp, the school’s Headmaster, said it is the first time the school applied for the scholarship programme and joined about 48 other schools. “It is a great opportunity to have some of our students join ALA as this will give them the chance to join other universities around the world,” he said.He also said that the girls performed incredibly well in the tests and this enabled them to stand out from the others. ALA is a Pan-African secondary school institution with a two-year programme designed to empower students with leadership and entrepreneurs skills.Fred Swaniker, Chris Bradford, Peter Mombaur and Acha Leke founded the school in 2004.English is the main language taught at the school, but it also offers French, Swahili, Arabic and Mandarin Chinese.