GENIUSMATH

Education in Africa has improved dramatically over the past few decades: today, primary school enrollment is free and guaranteed on much of the continent, having reached 80%.

Key Issues   :

1) 30-50% of secondary school children are out of school, 2) Out of over 500 million enrolled in school only (17M) graduate from University. Beyond schooling, the African education system has not kept pace with technological and job disruption, especially in the STEAM fields. Moreover, 87% of CEOs in Africa were extremely concerned about the availability of skills in the workforce, PWC Annual Survey 2019. The current problem with our education system is a shortage of qualified STEAM teachers and updated learning resources across Africa. According to the World Bank Development Report (2018)-Learning to Realize Education Promise, 9/10 kids do not have basic literacy and Math skills by the age of 10 across Africa. This is due to failing public education systems. The report further indicated that Worldwide, hundreds of millions of children reach adulthood without even basic life skills. Even if they attend school many leave without the skills for calculating the correct change from a transaction, reading a doctor’s instruction, or interpreting the campaign promise. In most developing countries poor people or children learn the least due to crowded classrooms with a low teacher ratio, outdated learning content, and lack of clear learning assessment tools among others.

GeniusMath- an innovative online and offline platform designed to engage children at the age of 5-14 years with interactive, gamified, visualized Math and literacy content with an option for well-vetted live tutors. The offline version provides access to children in areas without or with limited internet access. Social events with teachers, students, and other relevant stakeholders provide a platform to explore innovative ways of delivering Math and literacy content. The platform deploys AI and Machine learning tools to track and provide an adaptive learning environment to children providing instant feedback on correct pronunciation, writing, spelling, and math solutions, tuning the game levels according to the children's learning pace.

Our solution serves learners in rural/underserved communities- preferred group, middle and high-end. The majority of our beneficiaries earn less than 5 dollars a day. Their parents are not able to afford expensive private education. They are children from the age of 5-14 years who are entirely in primary schools. Currently, the kids with literacy and math skills are those that go to high-end schools with resources like textbooks, computers, and quality teachers among others, leaving the majority of children who attend public and community schools who are under-resourced. GeniusMath will improve children's learning outcomes by providing interactive, gamified, and visualized literacy and math content that is personalized and supplements children to learn through play. The platform will be delivered both online and offline powered by technology. The solution will be used as a classroom supplement and for after-school practice. Our community fosters social events with stakeholders to discuss new ways of delivering math and literacy content. The AI and Machine learning tools facilitate assessments and provide instant feedback to learners. Additionally, live tutors provide a human classroom learning environment. If our platform is deployed across the country it would improve understanding of literacies amongst learners and produce problem solvers in the mid-term and long term even at the grassroots levels.

The following are some of the  stakeholders our solution serves:

Students: Students are the direct users of our platform, they interact with our math and literacy content available through the school labs and on mobile that can be accessed after school. The solution tracks and provides learning feedback and assessments to students highlighting areas of strength and weaknesses and how to improve in their learning journey.

Parents: The platform gives parents a chance to assess their children's progress through assessment feedback and reports, this allows them to take personal initiatives to help their children develop relevant concepts and competencies

Teachers: The platform is used by the teachers to assess children's progress, demonstrating complex concepts in the classroom as a supplement and for networking purposes with other teachers.

Our team is passionate with a wide pool of experience in the field with an excellent record of working with children, building and implementing STEM pedagogies. Some of the qualities of the team members include the following:

-ROBERT OKIROR: FOUNDER/CEO. Robert is a senior STEM Educator with proven skills in business leadership and management,  he was the Center Manager at STEMCafe Kampala an EdTech in West and East Africa, he built STEMCafe Kampala from scratch to a portfolio of over 1,000 children and over 2,000 visits in 2 years and 7 months organically. Before his job at STEMCafe and starting STEMGENIUS, he co-founded two startups that failed. He is responsible for overseeing all project activities, from design to implementation, and evaluation. In addition, he is responsible for managing all resources including the team to ensure the project meets its set deliverables. He is 100% committed to the role. Robert also studied in rural schools in primary and secondary and faced the first-hand experience of studying in under resorced school or classroom, he has great exposure to understanding various education pedagogies, especially for  STEM education at a global level, the experience he garnered throughout his time working with kids and young adults. 

-EVAN GUMA (CONTENT LEAD & EDUCATOR): Evan is an IoT hobbyist and a software developer with experience working on various IoT-based solutions. He worked with the EdTech Lab at the Innovation Village Kampala, following a progressive period as an Instructor at STEMCafe, Kampala. He had an active engagement in center operations and has worked with children as an educator for three years now. Evan is responsible for designing instructional manuals and Math content with 100% full-time commitment. He is assisted by a team of other instructional designers who are also educators and content creators.

-RAMADHAN NKUTU  (PROJECT CTO): Ramadhan is responsible for developing and managing the platform including reviewing current systems, developing ideas for improving systems, working closely with data analysts, designers, and staff, writing program codes, testing the product before going live, he is assisted by the team of other developers. Previously he has developed successful platforms over the last 7 years. 

-Animator (Mathias Magambo): Mathias is responsible for converting text to videos and games. He is an education enthusiast and gamer with additional experience in graphics design.

The team is also assisted by a team of experienced mentors from Uganda's  Ministry of Education and Sports and the National Curriculum Development Center, particularly the Department of Math Training and Development and school heads who share with us the first-hand experience of some of the challenges faced by learners and teachers in the classroom. We collaborate with all these stakeholders to pilot and deploy interventions to ensure our solution solves the real problem hindering the attainment of quality education.

The platform has been used by over 500 learners picked from rural communities, and middle and high-end schools. The pilot version is currently available on the web. The solution has been piloted with over 3 schools.

The pilot is being tested targeting learners in under-resourced communities, and middle and high-end schools. Using Randomised Control Trials  (RCT) the treatment groups are picked from different parts of the country to test hypotheses on whether the solution solves the problem and creates the impact. Our platform is the winner of the MSII SDG Challenge 2023, an education initiative that selects  25 most innovative education projects from across Africa and provides them with incubation and pilot funds. From the pilots, it is evident that the platform can supplement classroom learning and engagement, and can improve school enrollment, especially in underresourced communities because children like learning through devices, the content also helps to improve understanding, for example, the feedback from all stakeholders indicated that beyond just understanding maths concepts and literacies, real application helps children learn why math is needed in everyday life. School heads indicated that sometimes children go to school with pocket money to buy items at the school canteens but are usually cheated by the school canteen attendants because they do not know their balances, our solution would help children understand the value of money in transactions. If built and tested at a larger scale it could improve literacy scores and understanding among the learners in the short term. If the platform is used in 5 years we would reduce illiteracy rates across the country and beyond.

The following are some of the stakeholders the pilots have been tested:

Students: We tested whether or not gamification, visualization, and real application can help improve classroom interaction and understanding of literacies. The hypothesis was yes, as a solution has the potential of increasing enrollment in the classroom as learners love using devices.

Teachers: We were able to get evidence that the platform can be used as a supplement to classroom learning, teachers could use the solution to demonstrate complex concepts and also to be used in under-resourced communities with limited teachers.

Parents: From the pilots, the parents were able to verify that the platform could support remedial learning and practice purposes at home after school hence more content was needed for testing at a larger scale

Other stakeholders: Other stakeholders like donors, foundations, and corporate partners among others indicated how we could collaborate to deliver the solution to remote areas. For example, the Cotton On Foundation which works with a portfolio of over 24 schools in Uganda and supplies over 1,000 learning tablets showed interest in deploying our solution to those schools.

-To receive tailored mentorship and coaching from experts, and entrepreneurs who have worked with a large number of social changemakers this will help us improve our product and position the company to scale.

-Network and join a powerful community of impact-minded leaders across different industries and sectors, with a chance to gain exposure to media and conferences.

-To mobilize financial resources both grants and risk capital. This is to support our growth trajectory to reach out to hundreds, thousands, and millions of learners across Africa and beyond. Currently, we have plans to build digital STEM content to improve STEM education across Africa, a chance to network with some of the key partners could foster the achievement of goals within the shortest period.

-Gain more exposure to some of the tools and practices used for monitoring and evaluating social impact enterprises. We will be deploying our solutions in areas with limited internet access through our offline version, assessment of impact is paramount especially when they are the majority that need the interventions, gaining exposure to some of the recent impact and evaluation techniques and tools will be highly important and we believe we can access through the program.

Legal support especially how to build compliance with local laws and regulations related to education, data protection, intellectual property, and business operations. Navigating these legal complexities can be challenging, especially for a small team with limited legal expertise

In a nutshell, applying to MIT Solve helps us to seek funding opportunities, mentorship, and network with like-minded individuals and organizations committed to making a positive social impact in the world. It's a great opportunity for us to scale up our solutions and make a difference on a larger scale, especially in areas we cannot reach alone. Being part of Solve will provide us with the hand and pave more direction for our vision and trajectory.

GeniusMath- an innovative online and offline platform designed to engage children at the age of 5-14 years with interactive, gamified, visualized Math and literacy content with an option for well-vetted live tutors. The offline version provides access to children in areas without or with limited internet access. 

We use Social events to provide a platform to explore innovative ways of delivering Maths and literacy content. This helps us to build a vibrant community that fosters collaboration between learners, teachers, and other stakeholders, exploring new and effective ways to deliver literacies.

The platform deploys AI and Machine learning tools to track and provide an adaptive learning environment to children providing instant feedback on correct pronunciation, writing, spelling, and maths solutions through our chatbot, tuning the game levels according to the children's learning pace. Additionally, tracking and adaptive learning help teachers and parents assess children's learning journey, the offline version will provide access to children in remote areas with the M&E team responsible for evaluating the impact of learning in underserved communities. We deploy AI and Machine learning tools to translate content into local languages. The platform generates reports for learners whenever they accomplish the required module and assessments developed by a team of experienced educators, instructional designers, animators, and developers among others.

Most solutions are not localized and offer personalized learning for all, for example, current better solutions do not cater to learners in developing countries with limited Math skills. Additionally, some of the promising edtechs in Africa do not provide options for learners in remote areas with limited infrastructure yet they are the majority. GeniusMath is customized for all children at the age of 5-14 years irrespective of their economic status and other social factors. 

 We will also supply affordable customized tablets to cater to under-resourced communities with the offline version of the platform installed on it to help improve learning outcomes. This will be accelerated through partnerships with development partners, donors, foundations, and corporations that we are already in talks with.

An interactive environment for learning numeracy and literacy can improve children's understanding and scores in Maths, reading, and writing in primary schools in Uganda in the first term of deployment for example the scores can improve from below average to over 60%. Research shows that learning through play improves children's understanding from 120 to 20 repetitions of memorizing. If the solution is used in the midterm, it will increase the number of learners in STEAM fields with the capacity to solve complex problems at secondary and tertiary institution levels with a strong foundation in literacy. The solution has the long-term potential of nurturing graduates to create solutions at the grassroots level, with the ability to read and understand a campaign promise or doctors instruction in rural communities, even if learners don't progress high with their education they should be able to create budgets, handle business transactions or learn how to write an engineering software at the grassroots levels. If 1 million live tutors are vetted and deployed in 5 years, the platform has the potential to impact over 20 million learners, leading to a massive improvement in access to quality education and inclusive growth opportunities.

-Supplement public education to ensure all girls and boys complete free, equitable, and quality primary and secondary education leading to relevant and effective learning outcomes. Our gamified, visualized content that teaches real application in literacy and Math will improve children's scores and understanding. The platform will foster this through updating learning content and empowering educators through collaborative spaces. Reducing classroom absenteeism and school dropouts. We will use surveys, observations, and focus discussion groups that will be conducted twice a school term to assess the impact of the solution on the learners.

- Increase the number of youth and adults who have relevant skills, including technical and vocational skills, for employment, decent jobs, and entrepreneurship. When children have strong foundational learning it enhances the development of soft skills like critical skills, problem-solving, and creativity. Our solution is designed in a way that helps to develop all those key areas. Children should be able to demonstrate these skills in the classroom and at home by participating in solving basic problems around them. Our platform fosters personalized learning that helps learners to develop different competencies. 

-Reduce gender disparities in education and ensure equal access to all levels of education and vocational training for the vulnerable, including persons with disabilities, and children in vulnerable situations. As part of our goal to increase women's participation in STEM, we will develop a women's Math mentorship program selecting women who are influential in the STEM fields to mentor girls in Math and to inspire them to pursue the fields. Additionally, our platform offers a personalized and engaging curriculum for learners with disabilities.

- Ensuring that all youth and a substantial proportion of adults, both men and women, achieve literacy and numeracy at the grassroots levels. This will encourage citizens to solve problems at the grassroots level even if they don’t attain the highest levels of education. This will help reduce illiteracy rates in Uganda and other locations where our solution will be deployed.

-Substantially increase the supply of qualified science teachers through our tutor mentorship program. We will deploy some teachers to be coaches and mentors in our platform and others can be absorbed by public and private schools. This will help us supplement the current shortage of qualified literacy teachers across the country and beyond.

To assess the impact of our solution we will conduct frequent monitoring and evaluation through stakeholder engagement using surveys, focus discussion groups, questionnaires, test scores, and observation among others.

Our solution is available on mobile and on the web built using Javascript, and PHP. Due to infrastructure challenges, there will be an offline version to cater to children in remote/underresourced community areas with limited internet access. Our solution uses AI and Machine learning to track kids' progress online and provide assessment reports. AI tools are also used to provide feedback to kids on the best ways of pronunciation, and writing, and provide maths corrections through our chatbot. The personalized and adaptive learning model helps to tune the game according to the child's understanding and capacity. 

MYSQL database system for managing personal data which includes tasks like registration, deleting, creating, and updating kids' data.

We use gamification and visuals to create a highly immersive interactive learning environment that is motivating, collaborative, and encourages creativity. The technology fosters learning through play making learning fun and rewarding. The use of visuals makes it easy for learners to master and understand concepts.

• The platform has the potential to improve classroom engagement for Math, according to our conversation and test pilots with the headteacher and deputy of  Aga Khan Primary School Uganda, she applauded the fact that the content was localized and serves to help the interest of local Ugandan learners which are necessary adjustments needed for the national curriculum. Before our engagement, the administration was piloting the Math platform from the UK but after opening doors for ours, the test version is to supplement classroom learning.

• From the observation made during the pilot, it was clear that the platform could easily help to improve students' concentration and engagement with Mathematics, and group discussions through the Maths simulations, real application of concepts enhances children's understanding of why it is important to learn Mathematics. After the pilot, several kids and parents asked whether the platform could be already downloaded on the App Store or Google Store to support remedial learning.

• From the pilots, several respondents like teachers, parents, and fellow students hinted at how the platform could impact learners in remote areas because they are the majority with little Maths skills, several parents suggested possible ways of collaborating with companies, foundations, and donors who could sponsor the program for remote areas.

• AI and Machine learning tools could aid parents to conduct assessments for their children and also to demonstrate complex concepts in the classroom. 

• AI and Machine learning tools are to be deployed for the next phase of development.

-Six people.

Including full-time project manager

Animator partime

Instructional desiners (2) fulltime

Developers (2).

We also have other project assistants like administrator and field pilot support. 

We expect changes to happen to the team as we continue to grow we will have many people in full-time roles and others on a part-time basis. depending on first we will grow and achieve our growth plans.

At STEMGENIUS, we cater to children and young adults aged 5-18, introducing them to the captivating world of Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics (STEAM). Our platform focuses on the proven significance of STEM in fostering vital competencies such as critical thinking, problem-solving, creativity, and innovation. Through engaging play experiences, we aim to spark a lifelong love for science exploration. STEMGENIUS has been in existence for 2 years with a portfolio of over 500 children and young adults and over 1,000 parents acquired organically. The GeniusMath project is 7 months old and is a product under STEMGENIUS.

STEMGENIUS  is an equal employment opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment and will not be discriminated against based on race, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, disability, age, genetic information, or national or ethnic origin.

We welcome diversity in recruitment: we exercise diverse recruitment practices, ensuring that our hiring process reaches a wide range of candidates from different backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives. 

We deploy inclusive policies and practices such as anti-discrimination policies, flexible work arrangements to accommodate diverse needs, and support for diversity networks or affinity groups within the team

We value regular feedback and communication:  fostering open communication channels where team members feel comfortable providing feedback on any issues related to diversity, equity, and inclusion. Regular check-ins and surveys help us gauge the effectiveness of our efforts and make necessary adjustments.

Professional Development Opportunities: We prioritize providing professional development opportunities for all team members, regardless of their background or identity. This may include mentorship programs, leadership training, or access to resources and networks that support career growth.

STEMGenius partners directly with different stakeholders, including educators, learning & content managers, project/program managers, schools/learning institutions, development partners, governments, and corporate institutions. Schools/learning institutions may sponsor program(s) for students or recommend parents to pay for their kids.

Development partners, governments, and corporate organizations may sponsor a program in school or science/Literacy challenge, students can also have access to our state-of-the-art maker space/learning center to support in-person remedial learning. The platform is available on the mobile app and the web, learners need only Internet access to connect. For those in underresourced areas, they need only a device to access the offline version which comes as a package of its own.

The in-school package is used to supplement classroom learning that can be made available through school computers, and customized tablets. After-school packages can be subscribed to at home by the parents to support remedial practice or learning.

Much as the middle class in Africa is looking small at around 34%, African economies are estimated to grow fast collectively at 8% CAGR more than any region in the world. By 2050 over 2.5 billion people are expected to live in Africa, 1 billion will be young below 17 years, with 15-20 million people in its workforce every year for the next two decades and the middle class is expected to expand rapidly. African governments spend over 5% of their GDP on education more than any other region in the world. Due to the falling public education system, households contribute 46% of total education spent on their children in private schools, spend on education today in Africa is estimated at USD 224B and is set to grow by USD 740B by 2050 and spend in edtech to grow to USD 57B by 2030-GSV ventures.

With the above market potential, the expected change in policy, and the future of work that will demand more learning outcomes, we intend to partner with African governments (Ugandan)  and other stakeholders to avail our programs to marginalized groups of people/communities, Aside from  GeniusMath, we will also introduce other products like, the  Genius virtual science labs, GeniusRobotics to create affordable quality learning education kits for African learners to meet the demand and the needs of the expanding middle class and to accelerate the future of learning that will be highly personalized with advanced technologies like RoboEdu, ML & AI.

To support our vision we will raise both grant and risk capital which will be accelerated by internally generated revenue. To date, GeniusMath won an unrestricted grant of USD.2,000 from the MSII SDG Challenge with a possible follow-on fund of USD. 10,000 if selected for the accelerator phase. From the pilots so far key stakeholders like parents, schools, corporations, and foundations among others have expressed interest in subscribing to the specific packages for their learners.

Through selling our other programs we have generated revenues amounting to 5,000 USD of our pilot. We project to hit a target of over 50,000 USD this year, it will be accelerated by partnerships and collaborations we look to build with schools, corporations, and foundations among others. Through the premium subscription model for our app, we anticipate the scalability of our product to happen in the shortest time since we already have trust with the existing customer base.