E-Schools Initiative will bring together experienced teachers, IT experts and content creators to develop new interactive content, platform and apps which are more relatable, user-friendly and better suited to local context and audiences. Conceived as a comprehensive intervention, this aspect of the Initiative will serve students and teachers who have access to the internet, mobile phones, TVs, DVD, radio players and other electronic means of communication.

The Initiative will engage post-National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members in each state of intervention for an extended period of one year after NYSC. Posting may also be graduated per school or per Local Government Area according to need. Focus will be on offering remedial and preparatory lessons for students in their exam years (UTME, WAEC, NECO, etc.) where schools’ capacity in specific subject areas is limited or nonexistent.

Qualified teachers and local resource persons may be retained for a period of one year renewable, on the basis of rendering educational extension services to designated communities which they are a part of or where they are a cultural fit. Focus will be on offering remedial and preparatory lessons for students in exam years for those outside of the formal schools sector. Strong engagement with traditional institutions and community-based organisations is an essential component of this aspect.

In all cases, engagement will be on a voluntary basis and will consider the academic record, character, language skills, other skills and competencies, cultural leaning, and commitment to development. It will be matched by a competitive pay package and professional development incentives. Pro bono services and volunteering are encouraged (see: EduTrust Volunteers Corps).

Our tailored projects, designed jointly with partners, schools, teachers, students and communities, will make the best of existing and accessible local platforms which will take basic education into homes, social groups, workshops and farmlands in hard-to-reach locations.

E-Schools Initiative designs and delivers digital educational resources in innovative, accessible, affordable, relatable and user-friendly formats which will reach communities underserved and unserved by the formal schools sector. We do this to narrow the gap in human development, and by working with students, teachers, school owners, companies, communities and governments.

The teaching and learning environment of the 21^st century is fast-changing; teaching and learning tools must therefore be adapted to meet this change. We design educational resources that shift students, teachers and administrators into the new era where learning is fun. In 2014, the rate of school dropout in some parts of north-east Nigeria rose to 70% due to Boko Haram terrorist attacks. In such situation, a tailored solution must include platforms that take educational resources into homes, community centres and hard-to-reach locations. On-air prep lessons can be used to reach the dropouts, exercises are delivered via mobile phones and instructions are facilitated for those that would take exams.

Intended to supplement and not to supplant efforts of the government and other providers, E-Schools Initiative finds various means of taking education beyond the four walls of the classroom and into the pockets of students, the handbags of teachers and places that are challenging to reach. The pilot for the first 2 years will address the needs of students in exam years (UTME, JSCE, SSCE and NECO). It will serve all who have access to the internet, computers, mobile phones, televisions, radios, DVD players, and other means of digital communication.

1. The teaching and learning environment of the 21^st century is fast-changing. Students voluntarily spend more time on social media platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, Snap Chat, You Tube, Twitter and WhatsApp than they spend in the classroom, studying textbooks and other educational resources. We offer teaching and learning tools and resources that are adapted to meet this inevitable change.
2. The EduTrust Foundation team is developing new ways of making learning a fun and engaging activity, in a way that is relevant and useful to students, teachers and administrators. Our research shows that most students are disengaged from the learning process due to poor learning environment or poorly adapted teaching methods that are more laborious than fun.
3. Our innovative, accessible, affordable, relatable and user-friendly products and services are backstopped by cutting-edge technology, collaborative development, and multi-sectoral experience. Our method is gamification of learning.
4. By combining educational services, job creation and national development, our business challenges the false assumption that solving social problems cannot be economically viable.
5. Our medium term strategy is hinged on building partnerships with the private sector, ICT firms and government MDAs (including Ministry of Education, Youth, NYSC, Labour and Employment) at both the federal and state levels which will help to create learning and employment opportunities for all.

Moreover, our business contributes to national development and to Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4—Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.

The way our schools’ curricula and teaching methods are developed and delivered presently leaves over 50 million schoolchildren deprived in one way or another. Those who exist outside the formal schools sector will become a burden to society because they will lack employable skills. Our educational resources and services are designed to bridge these gaps.

Includes low-income and middle-income classes in five urban and three rural areas. We target students, teachers, school owners, administrators, parents, out-of-school children, local communities, federal and state MDAs, foundations, ICT firms and the private sector. Our pilot areas will be selected based on our capacity, reach, market potential and need.

Direct sales and subscriptions by our users and clients including teachers, school owners, administrators, parents. We will offer subscriptions with incentives for loyalty. Secondary sources will include partnerships and consultancies. We will also explore soft loans and grants, technical support and capacity building by ICT firms and development partners.

Through the internet and social media, education and youth fora, word of mouth, handbills, posters, radio and TV talk shows, interviews, and propositions to targeted users and partners. We will launch a social media campaign tagged #learningisfun which will encourage students and teachers to share their own experiences and ideas.

Our benchmark organizations include established educational resource and service providers, tech companies, agencies and social enterprises. These include:

1. Gidi Mobile (gidimo.com)
2. National Open University of Nigeria
3. Khan Academy.

Threats may be economic, political, social, cultural or natural. For certain locations such as north-east and north-west Nigeria, major threats will be social and cultural especially relating to education and empowerment of the girl child and women. Logistical problems relating to transportation, infrastructure and communication would also be key. Short term threats to our enterprise may face include market volatility due to political events, unrest or instability in areas of operation. Long term threats may include currency depreciation or economic recession, natural disasters such as floods and drought. Some of the threats can be insured against, prevented and managed.

At EduTrust Foundation, we are interested in delivering useful and fun educational products and services and also in ensuring that the products are useable and actually used. We focus not only on students but also on teachers and administrators. Students are more ICT-savvy than teachers and administrators and this creates a generational gap.

To reach and engage 30 primary and secondary schools, 2000 out-of-school children and young adults, and 10,000 exam-year students in both urban centres and rural areas by 2024 through the provision of accessible educational resources. We also target to create 30 jobs per year and 150 jobs by 2024.

By 2025, we plan to leverage on our credibility and strengthen partnerships to reach states in all the six geo-political zones of Nigeria. We will support and collaborate with any partner, state government, MDA, individual or group with interest to set up similar enterprise in other locations through franchising to scale up impact.

Our vision of education is built on four pillars which match principles of social enterprise with business sustainability. These are: educational resources, job creation, national development and sustainable development. Our business strategy impacts our community through human capital development, entrepreneurial support and community engagement by combining collaborative problem solving, ICT and innovative use of local resources. A tiny fraction (about 0.03%) of annual private and public investments in education in Nigeria can make a huge impact in terms of results and revolutionize teaching and learning. ICT-driven change in the education sector is inevitable. Public and private schools, school administrators, governments, MDAs must therefore buy into and adapt to the change to remain relevant. We help them meet the future halfway.

Happily, the benefits of mass education go far beyond literacy, lifting people out of poverty and improving livelihoods. Education improves governance and human development. It makes citizens more alive to their duties and more able to hold governments accountable. The people are better able to make informed decisions to solve their own problems. Security also gets better. Lack of access to education, youth unemployment and youth exclusion are significant factors of insecurity.

Our top three (3) challenges so far have included the following:

1. The time it may take to build sustainable partnerships based on trust.
2. Low internet penetration and logistics hurdle in rural areas (power, transportation, language, etc.).
3. Access to financing options that are suited to the needs of startups and budding social enterprises.

We seek to contribute our time, energy, skills and resources to filling the huge gap in education on personal, national and global levels:

1. First, we will match our passion for teaching and mentoring young people to enlarge access to quality education with self-leadership and people leadership skills to achieve greater results.
2. Furthermore, we will contribute to achieving the social development aspirations of the Nigeria Vision by supplementing the efforts of the government and the private sector in education with minimum investment, and expanding engagement with stakeholders.
3. Leveraging on the SDGs, we will build partnerships for development and strengthen our business strategy towards ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education and promoting lifelong learning opportunities for all.