My Quest to Redefine Education for young people from overlooked backgrounds
By Esther Okeoghene Edward, Founder Bluvard Education Initiative
I was almost graduating from university the first time I owned a computer. For some, owning a computer was a basic commodity, but for me, it was a luxury that took years of savings to afford. Many years have flown by since then, yet the story remains the same for millions of children and young people in Nigeria.
We live in an ever-evolving technologically powered world, yet access to basic digital tools remains a luxury children and young people from rural communities in Nigeria cannot afford, contributing to the ever-widening disparity between the haves and have-nots. To put this in perspective, The World Economic Forum (WEF) 2021 report reveals that 9 out of every 10 jobs will require digital skills in the next 10 years, yet more than 85% of Nigeria’s graduates have no digital skills, a survey by GetBundi, an online education technology outfit, has shown.
As with technology, learning exclusion extends across other areas of the Nigerian Education System, from creative education to vocational skills to Entrepreneurship. To bridge the learning divide posed to young people from rural communities, In 2021, I established Bluvard Education Initiative - a non-profit organisation focused on redefining education by leveraging the power of technology and creativity to create future-forward learning programmes for young people from overlooked backgrounds in rural communities in Nigeria, and across Africa.
Providing young people in Nigeria with the skills they need to thrive in the workplace
As an organisation tackling digital Inequalities in education, we created Project Digital Rural - a digital inclusion boot camp designed to equip out-of-school/unemployed youths with in-demand digital skills to reduce unemployment. Interestingly, more than 70% of the young persons we have trained at Project Digital Rural have never used a computer before, and more than 95% have never owned a computer.
It has been a miracle in time watching young people, who previously could not turn on a computer, go on to become gainfully employed through the skills they have learned at Bluvard. In May 2023, we conducted an impact survey on our previous students. We learned that more than 60% of our graduates from our digital skills training who were previously unemployed are now gainfully employed using the skills garnered at Bluvard, and 40% of the participants who were out–of–school due to poverty have returned to school. In these moments, the challenges and pushbacks I have encountered while trying to implement these projects seem like nothing compared to the successes and transformations we see in the lives of these youths.
Beyond advancing digital skills, we have a primary focus on advancing learning opportunities for young but overlooked creatives from rural communities. Through this program, we have paired young people with nationally recognised leaders in the creative sector so they can receive personalised mentorship.
At Bluvard, we ask ourselves what does it mean to be educated and how can young people from rural communities receive access to equal learning opportunities. This burning question drives us to rethink our approach to impact over and over again.
Creating a New Kind of School: The Leaders of Leaders Africa Fellowship
By 2030, young Africans are expected to constitute 42% of global youth. This significant proportion of young people presents a promising prospect for growth in the continent. However, this potential can only be fully realised if the upcoming generation is empowered with the holistic skills and knowledge required to reshape the African narrative.
Equipping young people with relevant leadership skills is not merely a question of inclusion but one that is vital for economic growth, innovation, peace, and security. It is the key to safeguarding our collective future and the pathway to realising the Africa of our dreams.
To contribute to this, we have created The Leaders of Leaders Africa Fellowship (LoL Africa ), which is a bespoke remote leadership school designed to equip young African dreamers and doers with hands-on leadership skills to lead change in their communities by bringing together aspiring leaders to learn from some of the most exemplary leaders in Africa and beyond.
Through this fellowship, 25 young leaders from all over Africa, ranging from Malawi to Egypt, South Sudan to Ghana, learn from exemplary leaders across the world and have access to mentorship, tailored coaching, and up-close conversations with global leaders in a three-part curriculum: Leading Self, Leading Others, and Leading Movements.
The future of Bluvard
We started Bluvard by organising free tutorials for underperforming/out-of-school young people in Adamo- a village with no public primary or secondary school in Ikorodu, Lagos, with a vision to extend our impact to other remote parts of Africa. Today, we have been able to set up a digital inclusion hub that provides access to the internet, computers, and on-site mentors to hundreds of young people from more than 30 communities in Lagos, Nigeria, and built a network of 25 resident ambassadors from 10 other African countries working with us to advance education in their countries.
I look back on how we started and how I, a girl with a dream from an overlooked background, have created a space for other girls and boys to thrive. Through my organisation, I am providing the learning opportunities to others that I wish I had growing up. I look back at all the young people I have mentored and taught who are now a step closer to breaking the vicious cycle of poverty they have always known. I also look forward with hope to a brighter future for me, Bluvard, and millions of youths I am sure I will meet along the way on my voyage of impact.