Student Entrepreneurs Try Pre-K Education Via Cell Phone
Ulixes Hawili, with a team of student entrepreneurs from the University of Tampa, has created a company called Tembo Education, a 2015 Hult Prize finalist, to provide a proven curriculum of training to African parents to help their children prepare for school.
Ulixes, the Chief Intelligence Officer of Tembo, explains, “The problem is the lack of early childhood education in developing countries across the world. Millions of children are not afforded an opportunity to a high quality education and we believe that advanced economies are morally inclined to confront issues of this magnitude, even if it means making tremendous sacrifices.”
Noting that 86 percent of the population in sub-Saharan African have access to a mobile device, Ulixes says, “We are providing a high quality curriculum and training to parents across sub-Saharan Africa through mobile phones, effectively providing them with something that they do not have through something that they do.”
“Providing access to a quality early childhood education in developing countries will lay the foundation for economic development by catalyzing the acquisition of human capital, boosting relative incomes, and opening the door to foreign investment in the region,” Ulixes concludes.
On Wednesday, October 14, 2015 at 4:00 Eastern, Ulixes will join me for a live discussion about the the Hult Prize competition and the company he’s helped to create. Tune in here then to watch the interview live. Post questions in the comments below or tweet questions before the interview to @devindthorpe.
You can download an audio podcast here or subscribe via iTunes.
Tembo is raising money to accelerate its growth via GoFundMe.
More about Tembo Education:
Twitter: @TemboEducation
Our solution uses a high-quality, evidence-based curriculum to train and employ home educators (members of the urban slum community) to teach parents via SMS text messages. The parents then educate their children in their own homes. We assess the learning process through a quiz via SMS text. For educating their child and answering the quiz correctly, the parent is rewarded with free airtime (minutes and texts).
We require parents and home educators to use our telecom partner to access the curriculum. Therefore, we increase the market share of the telecom. In our Nigerian pilot study, we have increased the market share of MTN by 33%, Globacom by 93%, and Etisalat by 92%.
We expedite the economic development of the country by not only educating millions of children, but also by creating employment opportunities, generating revenue for the telecoms, and opening the doors to foreign investors.
Remember to “join the cavalry” by subscribing to our content here.
The post Student Entrepreneurs Try Pre-K Education Via Cell Phone appeared first on Your Mark On The World.