These 11 startups are preparing African kids for the future
These 11 startups are preparing African kids for the future
Education is critical for any society that wishes to progress in any way. However, this is not always the case in Africa. According to the United Nations Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF), close to half of Africa's population is under the age of 18.
Africa's child population is expected to reach 1 billion by 2055, owing to steady birth growth and declining child mortality rates.
According to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization's Institute of Statistics, one in every five children between the ages of six and eleven is out of school. This percentage increases as children get older, with one-third of youth between the ages of 12 and 14 and nearly 60% of youth between the ages of 15 and 17 out of school.
These figures become even more startling when we consider gender disparities in school enrollment. Between the ages of 6 and 11, nine million African girls will never attend school, compared to six million African boys. By the time these children reach adolescence, girls are excluded at a rate of 36%, while boys are excluded at a rate of 32%.
Recognizing education's role in development, the United Nations has designated quality education as one of its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Africa's education technology startups are rising to the occasion. While they do not receive the same level of attention or funding as fintech or agritech startups in Africa, they complement the continent's existing educational systems. They face a significant obstacle, however, due to low internet penetration, which means that only a few children can access these services.
According to Techpoint Intelligence data, The Gambia has the highest rate of digital connectivity among school-aged children in West Africa, at 65 percent.
Nigeria, on the other hand, has only 3% of school-aged children with access to the Internet at home, despite having the highest number of edtech startups in Africa.
The sector has grown steadily, with a Briter Bridges report estimating that the continent will have over 210 edtech startups by Q1 2020. These startups employ a variety of models but share a common goal: to make learning effortless while achieving exceptional results.
The following is a list of 11 randomly chosen edtech startups that you should check out.
uLesson
Sim Shagaya, a Nigerian serial entrepreneur, founded uLesson in 2019 to close the learning gap for children in secondary schools across Africa.
Since its inception, the startup has amassed over one million app downloads and raised more than $10 million in funding, making it one of Africa's best-funded education technology startups.
uLesson currently serves students in Nigeria, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Liberia, and The Gambia, but its expansion plans focus on the East and South African regions.
uLesson seeks to supplement existing educational systems through the use of interactive videos and a focus on producing content that students enjoy.
For a small fee, it can be accessed via an Android device or a Windows PC. Depending on the plan selected, a user may pay as little as $6 per month.
Tuteria
Godwin Benson was not compensated for tutoring services rendered in 2005. Worse yet, the man who hired him spent two months looking for him.
That experience inspired him to co-found Tuteria with Abiola Oyeniyi in 2015. Tuteria is an online platform that connects people looking to learn with people who can teach them.
Microsoft, Facebook, and the Royal Academy of Engineering are among the startup's investors.
PrepClass
Chukwuwezam Obanor and Olumide Ogunlana founded PrepClass in 2014 to address Nigeria's severe teacher shortage. PrepClass, like Tuteria, connects students and tutors for a fee. Venture Garden Group and Africa Angels Network have invested over $400,000 in the startup.
Pass.ng
Exams are a critical component of the educational system. For a long period of time, the only resources available to Nigerian students preparing for examinations such as the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) were massive collections of past questions. However, with Pass.ng, students can assess their knowledge of various subjects via a series of mock tests.
Although the startup initially targeted students preparing for WAEC and the Joint Admission Matriculation Board (JAMB) examination — now known as the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) — it now also administers tests for the University of Lagos (UNILAG) diploma programme and the Federal Government's N-Power program.
M-Shule
M-Shule, a Kenyan edtech startup founded in January 2016 by Julie Otieno and Claire Mongeau, leverages artificial intelligence to provide learners with individualized learning experiences via SMS and chatbots. Students' performance data is then shared with parents, schools, and teachers in order to facilitate the learning process.
Ambani Africa
As more areas of Africa become urbanized, the risk of indigenous African languages being lost increases. Ambani uses augmented reality (AR) to teach young people African languages for families who feel this way. The app currently supports the following languages: isiZulu, isiXhosa, Setswana, Sepedi, Tshivenda, and English.
Smartix Education
Ghanaian Smartix Education creates educational solutions for students through the use of animated videos, activities, and books that are accessible via an Android and web app. Additionally, it operates a vacation school for students in kindergarten through eighth grade.
Syafunda
Zakheni Ngubo founded Syafunda in 2013 in South Africa to provide access to digital content. The startup collaborates with local content creators to establish digital libraries in areas with limited or non-existent Internet access.
eLimu
The name of the Kenyan edtech startup translates as "education" in Swahili, and it develops educational apps and content for primary school students. It was acquired by CcHUB in 2020 as part of the company's content creation expansion plans. Marie Githinji and Nivi Mukherjee founded eLimu in Kenya's iHub; the startup teaches students concepts through local examples.
Kidato
Africa's public schools have a high student-teacher ratio of 1:50. Private schools, on the other hand, have a student-to-teacher ratio of 1:20. This, however, comes at a high cost to parents. Sam Gichuru, a Kenyan serial entrepreneur, founded Kidato to address this issue after having to withdraw his children from school to be homeschooled.
In 2021, the startup was accepted into Y Combinator. Kidato is an online school for children ages four to eighteen. It provides students with both regular academic classes and after-school lessons. To ensure that students have the same interaction as they do in traditional schools, the school organizes monthly educational field trips.
Gradely
Gradely is an adaptive learning platform that assists parents and schools in identifying students' learning gaps and recommending specific strategies for closing those gaps. Boye Oshinaga, Femi Ibiwoye, Seyi Adelaju, and Babatunde Caleb founded it in 2019 and count Microtraction among its investors.
