Educares Nigeria

In Nigeria, the high rate of our of school children is quite alarming, this is as a result of insecurity currently witnessed in several parts of Nigeria where school children becomes their prime target, harsh economic conditions, COVID-19, incessant strike actions usually embarked by public school educators/teachers due to inability of government to meet their demands. As well as social and cultural barriers. 

According to UNICEF Nigeria, 10.5 million children are out of school in Nigeria, which is the highest rate in the world. The figure indicates that one-third of Nigerian children are not in school, and one in five out-of-school children in the world is a Nigerian.”

Even though primary education is officially free and compulsory, about 10.5 million of the country’s children aged 5-14 years are not in school. Only 61 percent of 6-11 year-olds regularly attend primary school and only 35.6 percent of children aged 36-59 months receive early childhood education.

In the north of the country, the picture is even bleaker, with a net attendance rate of 53 percent. Getting out-of-school children back into education poses a massive challenge.

Gender, like geography and poverty, is an important factor in the pattern of educational marginalization. States in the north-east and north-west have female primary net attendance rates of 47.7 percent and 47.3 percent, respectively, meaning that more than half of the girls are not in school. The education deprivation in northern Nigeria is driven by various factors, including economic barriers and socio-cultural norms and practices that discourage attendance in formal education, especially for girls. (Source: UNICEF NIGERIA)

Most primary and post primary institutions across the country are in deplorable conditions and unsafe for learning while some especially in Northern Nigeria has been razed down with fire by bandits and insurgents due to their total abhorrence to western education. More so, incessant kidnapping of school children in different parts of the country have taken different dimensions which contributes to low school enrollment.

The aim of our solution is to support the government in achieving SDG 4 by 2030 through improved planning and by addressing some of the systemic barriers that hinder the implementation of an effective education strategy. The solution advocates for education to be prioritized and targets children who are least likely to receive an education. The expected outcome of the solution is that all children access and complete quality education, within a safe learning environment, gaining the skills and knowledge for lifelong learning.

Our solution Educares Nigeria is an online and offline digital e-learning platform that allows undeserved children and youths between 5 to 18 years to learn anywhere without being physical in any location.

This is a web and mobile application where a student is expected to login and create a dashboard. The student while registering will choose a class he/she is expected to start. All he/she is expected to learn while in traditional classroom will be uploaded on the portal using the current Nigerian School Curriculum to prepare lesson for all the subjects. The student has the option of choosing language he/she preferred in the language option on the portal which have the following languages: Hausa, Igbo, Yoruba, Pidgin English and British English.    

Apart from using online, the Mobile application can work offline as well as the students don’t need internet subscription (data) to take the course. This is to allow students in remote areas with no internet access to be part of the learning as well.

Our experienced educators/teachers will prepare the scheme of work and lesson plans in our ultra-modern computer laboratory after which it will be uploaded online by our IT personnel. Our students while logging online will take the lesson and assessment which the teachers will access to grade the student’s performance.

We are currently targeting children and youths between the ages of 5 to 18 years that have been disadvantaged in acquiring quality education who resides mostly in urban poor and rural areas across the country.

With this solution, the underserved children and youth will still acquire the same education that those who are privileged acquire. As all the subjects will be uploaded online and they will learn at their pace.

Our solution will address their need as it is a self-paced learning and the choice of using web and mobile applications is to reach out to everybody at the same time irrespective of where the students are in the country.  Anyone who desires to acquire formal education but lack access to traditional classroom can use this web application to meet his/her need.

We quite understand the needs having been educators/teachers for years. Besides, I for instance face similar challenge while growing up as I was out of school for five years then due to inability of my guardian to sponsor my education. More so, I currently reside in the community mostly characterized by underserved students between the ages of 5 to 18 years.

In order to understand the needs of those we are serving, we recently conducted free tutorial classes for students in public schools whose educators/teachers have been on industrial action (strike) and use the opportunity to sample their opinion on the project which a lot of them gave a positive response.

The design of our solution is a self-paced online school aimed at giving an opportunity to underserved students between the ages of 5 to 18 years to acquire basic education which they cannot afford in a traditional school system due to some circumstances such as insecurity, economic hardship, industrial action by traditional school educators etc.   

We are applying to solve basically for technical support as we need more Edtech experts to assist in developing a robust web and mobile applications that can stand a taste of time. We also need assistance in supply of educational tablets as we intend to program our subjects in tablets which will be offline in order to reach out to students in remote area without internet facilities.

This is an online and offline school which gives the students the opportunity to learn anywhere anytime at their pace from different parts of the country.

 The innovative aspect of the solution is to leverage on technology to advance learning especially the undeserved that cannot afford the high cost of traditional/conventional school system to acquire basic education, this innovation will give them (underserved) the opportunity to acquire basic education the same way it is in conventional classroom.

The solution will reduce high illiteracy level and out of school children currently experienced in Nigeria.

To achieve our aim, we will partner with  agencies such as UNICEF Nigeria, relevant government agencies both in state and federal level as well as broadcast media organization to give adequate publicity of the project. 

We will also work with educators in various states of the federation to ensure that the project gets to grassroots which is the primary target.

The solution specifically address Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) No. 4 that “Ensures Quality Education” as well as SDG No.10 that addresses “Reduced Inequality” as the solution will deduce the gap between the privileged few and the many underserved children and youth in the society. 

The two SDGs mentioned above aligns with the solution as the solution provides digital school learning that guarantees quality education and at the same time reduces huge inequality that exists in the society.

Educare Nigeria is an online/offline Edtech platform that offers students in Primary and Secondary School a holistic learning experience in Mathematics, English Language, Business, Sciences, & Technology etc. while also preparing them for school-based, national, and regional examinations.

One of the unique features of the solution is that it's deeply immersive and localized at the same time for Nigerians. Plus, students can learn offline without having to worry about internet subscription.  

To launch the app for the first time, students will have to register using their mobile number. They would then be required to confirm using a six-digit code sent via SMS. The student can create a new account quickly and easily by inputting their names, emails and mobile number of a guardian.

As a free user, the student only get access to a limited number of pre-recorded and live video lessons and can only ask a limited number of homework questions to our tutors. While full users can pay between $10 and $20 in order to have unlimited access to our video lessons, transcripts and homework.

 The teachings are top notch too and students can grasp concepts faster when studying with the app. All the subjects have been simplified for easy comprehension by the students. Evidence that this will work have been tested through our research on the pilot phase of this project.

The solution makes use of web and Mobile applications which is user friendly and can run on any mobile device including laptop and desktop computer.

The solution cuts across all segments of the society irrespective of religious or ethnic affiliation. It is an inclusive solution as it takes care of all gender, social status but is restricted to 5 to 18 years of ages as it is based on the Nigerian School Curriculum which is used to prepare the lesson.  

Our business model is providing E-Learning for children and young adults between the ages of 5 to 18 years. We adopt digital learning in order to reach out to our target audience in different parts of the country.

With this platform, we will be able to reach out to wider audience and they will be able to learn at their own pace.

We provide digital learning through the use of web and mobile applications which can be used either online or offline.

Students need this to complement what they learn on traditional classroom and those who cannot afford traditional classroom due to its high cost or whatsoever reason can use the platform to acquire basic education. This platform also serves as a basis to prepare for national and regional examinations.

Our revenue model first is to apply for grant at the initial stage, then use of subscription to generate revenue that we will use for our running cost like consultancy, salaries, advertisements, etc.

 Our aim is to assist in improving high standard of education in Nigeria through giving access to underserved children and young adult to acquire basic education, that is why we provide free access but will be limited while full access will be unlimited but comes with a subscription fee between $10 to $20 monthly subscription. 

At present we were able to generate income from face-to face tutorial we are currently operating as well as donations from good spirited individuals to support our project.

We have not received any grant whatsoever and that is why we are applying for this challenge for support either grant or through technical support by developing web and mobile applications for us.