Fifty female Don Bosco Technical College students were blessed with a $12,500 donation through a partnership between Brown Girl Woke and the Commonwealth of Learning in the UK. 

The scholarships cover their school registration fees and provide training in human rights, public speaking, financial literacy, leadership, empowerment, and counselling support.

Student Brillyann Ah Loo is in her final year and undertaking the Fine Arts courses. She said the scholarship helps her and her family.

"I am very grateful and blessed with this opportunity. Who would've thought these blessings would come my way in this final year of education? This will also be an encouragement for me and my sisters who are recipients of such initiative to do well in our respective fields," she said. 

"As you have heard, it is just Don Bosco that they have offered scholarships. Our family is not well off so this is a huge help for my parents, and I promise that I will see to it that I graduate with flying colours. I hope that one day, I can achieve my goal to be the best artist in Samoa," she said.

Principal of Don Bosco Su'a Mane Su'a said tuition fees were the main reason why some students have dropped out of school. 

"When I received an email from Maluseu saying that she's looking at providing scholarships for female students, I immediately arranged for a meeting. I started in 2018 and a few years ago I sent my teachers to a community program that was conducted by SQA, and they came back with feedback," said Su'a. 

"Their feedback from the community was that they were asking why we only accept boys in our school. That was the challenge, and I took it up, and I think in 2020, we opened our doors to having female students. We started that year with just one female student, we now have more than 100 female students currently on our campus.

"Most of the students that we have, their parents cannot afford the fees. The District Councils have stepped up in some constituencies to offer that help. But there are also other sponsors. But throughout my time here, the majority of the scholarships go towards female students."

Maluseu Dori Tulifau the founder of BGW clarified their reasons for focusing their scholarships on just the female students. 

"In Samoa, so many young women leave school without access to further education or job opportunities. At the same time, we hear over and over again from families, schools, and even the girls themselves and they don't just want education. They want skills that lead to jobs now," she said.

"Vocational careers are in high demand in Samoa, and we saw a gap, girls were being left out of that conversation. BGW has been working across after-school programs, university clubs, and with children of street vendors, and through this work, we've seen firsthand that girls still face unequal access to opportunities."

The BGW group currently has a project called "She Builds" and the inspiration behind it comes from understanding that if Samoa wants real gender equality then they must make sure girls have the same access to education, skills training, and career pathways as men.