Future Female Generation (FFGen)

Gender inequality in education for girls and women is prevalent in many communities worldwide, making it very difficult for the lower class to break free from poverty. This marginalisation of young women denies them opportunities of progressing. 

Our proposed solution is the provision of educational information and learning through an App. This would be one of the vital means of achieving sustainable change in their communities and worldwide, through the delivery of awareness, peer-to-peer interaction and transformation from the comfort of their own homes.

This solution will transform their mindset and create the passion to fight against social ills. Being educated at home will solve issues of schooling for girls due to transportation, menstrual issues, school fees, disabilities or staying home to look after siblings. This gives them the opportunity to pursue their dreams, have a voice in their communities and confidence to challenge negative cultural norms.

In countries like Nigeria, the problem of gender inequality in education for girls and young women has remained largely unsolved. The aim of our solution is to leverage on technology to tackle this socio-cultural problem.

A UNICEF report in 2020 stated that 10.5million Nigerian's aged 5-14 years are not in school, the north-east and north-west have female primary net attendance rates of 47.7% and 47.3% respectively.
Poverty has a devastating impact on their education due to lack of money to pay school fees. Even with free schooling, the cost of textbooks, transport and school uniform remain unaffordable.  
Transportation is an issue when living in rural areas as the schools are far from their homes. 
An article written by the British Council in 2014 stated 14% of girls in a community walk over 6km to school every day, taking them over 1hr each way. A lot of girls who are housemaids are often maltreated and denied an education. In some areas females with disabilities are not even welcome to attend school. 
The access to education at their fingertips, through the App, will transform the lives of these girls in tangible ways and in turn make them change agents for their generation.

The user-friendly App will be accessible on a laptop or mobile device to minimise the challenges mentioned above.

The App will not only teach the girls world acknowledged educational curricular but will equip them for further studies and awareness of global issues that women face. There will be specialised, vetted volunteer mentors available virtually to address questions including a helpline where they can open up about mental health, abuse, etc. 

Most of the girls living in poor communities have never seen a computer. The App will have various training suites from which they can learn. Young mothers can provide early learning for their toddlers through the App's early learning suite. A disability-friendly suite will be available and tailored to educate those who need that extra help. Devices installed with the App will be donated to those who don't already have.
Internet access can be arranged with internet providers, giving data to access the web and app and the use of solar-powered batteries allowing recharge when electricity isn't available. If a mentor is needed, the app will guide users to the right mentor that can provide the necessary information. Guidance notes and FAQs will be provided.

The solution should serve educationally disadvantaged young women.

Our personal experiences growing up in Nigeria reveal the challenges women face. Many of our female classmates marry older, richer men before completing high school because they had no other choice but to help their families escape poverty. Some at school have difficulty staying focused because they also play supportive roles at home helping their parents who cannot afford school materials needed to perform well. Some can’t afford sanitary products or school uniform and therefore too embarrassed to attend. Even those staying in school face abuse from male teachers who want amorous relationships. Disabled girls are hidden at home taking away any chance of them being educated. These are just a few barriers stopping women from being educated. 

This is where the app can be a solution to these issues. It will be regularly updated so the girls can keep on top of all their schooling. Disabled girls can stay at home and still be given the same educational opportunities. Those staying home to provide can still be educated and at their own pace. It would have a database with a variety of volunteer professionals to advise and inspire the girls.

The proposed app will serve as a solution to the problems already highlighted as it will increase the number of girls and young women participating in training and education. It will provide targeted mentoring for deprived girls and young women, with the aim of reducing the barriers that prevent them from achieving the same level of educational attainment as their male counterparts. This will further empower them to champion change for other girls in their communities.

Describe what makes the draft innovative- Other educational apps out there do not focus directly on the education of girls and young women from marginalised societies. Organisations focused in this area usually go out physically to areas with uneducated girls, build schools and teach them in classrooms. 

With the app however, the girls can undergo home-schooling where regular schooling is not an option. It gives them the flexibility to learn when they want and how. Therefore, the girls learn in more creative ways (games and challenges) rather than rote learning, producing women who are life-long learners. 

If there are any issues or concerns, the mentors and help line are easily accessible to support. Electronic schooling materials are also available, taking away financial strains on their families which is more likely to encourage involvement of parents.

Apart from the educational values, it will be a safe place for them to discuss issues and get advice on areas of concern. Global career and scholarship opportunities will also be available to them to leverage on.

Many people think home-schooling creates socially awkward individuals, but the app allows the girls and young women to interact with their mentors and each other through the apps chat forum. This encourages and inspires them to share their educational journeys. 

Through the app, embracing online learning, adaptive games and peer interactions will become much easier. There will have access to videos of inspirational, professional and influential role models from different walks of life. 

The solution will be powered by developing software in the form of an App.

The app takes the place of a physical school providing the girls and young women with a mentor, online training, helpline contact and courses which lead to legitimate educational certifications. Using the app as a homeschooling tool exposes them to innovation, career progress, professional bodies and scholarships. Home-schooling is proven to be very successful in western countries and a lot of it is done online or via apps. So, being able to create an app to serve as a path to education in developing countries like Nigeria will successfully establish a new generation of educated females who can work and provide for their families. 

A digital guide on how to get the most benefit out of the app will be available including various levels of digital technology proficiency training. 

The users will be able to create and track their smart goals with the mentors providing guidance. 

 App format

There are thousands of educational apps that have been created and many are widely used. Apps allow the flexibility of working on a range of smart phones to tablets and allow for  more efficient studying. It also improves the tech skills of the individuals. Another benefit of using apps to educate is that it allows the information to reach massive audiences and not just the 20 students able to fit into the class room. 

Examples:

- The free educational app Duolingo is a language learning application with over 300 million registered users across the globe. it is user friendly and uses games, voice applications and quizzes to help individuals learn new languages. 

- BBC bitesize is an app used by many children in the UK. It provides support to learners between the ages of 5 to 16+ across a wide range of subjects. It operates through tests, informational videos, revision notes and flash cards to help users through the exam revision periods. It also has areas to support young people in well-being and career choices.

So, as stated above, educational apps are widely used and recognised all over and so there is a lot of resources that can be found to help develop our app for young girls to be just what they need to get good education. 

Delivering educational information is a vital means of achieving sustainable change in their communities and worldwide.

The theory of change makes the benefits of this project experiential at every level. We will be focusing on the short, medium and long term benefits of the activities involved in home-schooling using the app and the subsequent outputs at every level. 

Activity- home-schooling

Output- educated girls and young women

Short term outcomes- reduction of school related financial strains, reduced exposure to social ills, access to education, safe learning environment, parents engagement, mental health improvement, flexible learning and maximised study time. 

Medium outcomes- mindset changes in communities, mental health improvement, relational improvements, learning opportunities from others, exposure to better educational opportunities, embracing online learning, reduced anti-social behaviour, awareness of their rights as women, confidence boost, self-love and acceptance.

Long term outcomes- improved health, employment, less child-brides, sociocultural changes, reduced sexual assaults, sexual health awareness (family planning), reduced mortality rates, female role models and change agents, reduction of poverty, generational transformations, awareness of their rights as women, female providers for families  

Benefits to the community:

- Open-mindedness 

- improved collaboration

- educates men on women rights and their importance 

- reduced financial strain  

- better use of resources  

- economical improvements 

- healthier families 

-strong institutions

There are currently high rates of rape issues in Nigeria. A girl raped and killed in a Nigeria church while studying (https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2020/jun/02/and-of-student-in-church-sparks-outrage-across-nigeria).

- Emphasises how home schooling allows the girls to study in the security of their own homes. Other examples are cases of Boko Haram kidnap/burning of schools. 

- There is also the April 2014 case of Chibok girls in Nigeria kidnapped out of schools, trafficked and forcefully married off by Boko Haram. So the app will give girls security from these terrorists groups as they cant be targeted in physical school buildings. 

Girls and young women are being commonly trafficked out of Nigeria (https://www.unicef.org/protection/nigeria_25508.html).

None currently.

In one year, we expect to complete a pilot for a designated community, hopefully reaching at least 20 girls. This pilot will serve as a learning curve for scaling up the project as funding becomes available.

However, in five years we anticipate that most of the disadvantaged communities in Nigeria will be reached benefiting at least one million girls and young women out of the more than 13.5 million children that are out of schools. VOA Report - 2018   

https://www.voanews.com/africa/un-nigeria-more-13-million-school-age-children-out-school

The app can be designed, revised and completed in a year.

Laptops, tablets and solar banks/chargers will be bought with the installation of the app on it.

These will be distributed in selected deprived communities in the North-East of  Nigeria where the app will be trailed for a year. Video training on how the app will be used will uploaded. Training and assessments will also be carried out for all mentors prior to their approval as a mentor and every year each mentor will be reassessed before carrying on to the next. 

Twice a year, each girl involved in the program will be assessed on their progress and they will give reviews on how beneficial and easy this new form of learning has been for them and if they would like to continue on the program.

If the results are good then the next year the app can be introduced into other parts of Nigeria, then West Africa and so on until every girl deprived of education world wide can have access to it through FFGen. 

Assessment examples taken by mentors prior to approval.

• Identify steps in the process of becoming a Mentor.
• Purpose of the mentor programme and impact you make as a mentor
• Health and safety: safeguarding, boundaries and confidentiality.
• Being an active mentor.

Both Mentors and Helpline support teams will undergo strict background, police  and verification checks before they are engaged as mentors. 

The greatest barrier we are faced with is financial. 

- Funding will be required to design the app, purchase the devices and solar-powered chargers, pay the internet providers, train the mentors and more.

- The challenge of unstable electricity supply. 

- Cultural and legal barriers  

 - Likelihood of loss or theft of devices 

Receiving funding from the organisations will help to execute our solution. The funds will be used to purchase all the necessary equipment and tools needed to implement the solution and to pay those who will help bring the solution to life. 

The challenge of unstable electricity supply will be mitigated through the use of solar-powered lamps which can go for up to 8 hours when fully charged. 

We would have to overcome cultural and legal barriers that may be in place in some of these communities to allow the girls to be educated at home.

Trackers/chips can be inserted into the devices to track their location in case of theft. The girls and young women will be educated on how to keep their devices safe as much as possible. 

We would need individuals within the community who will act as project guardians or project champions, who we expect will be parents that can help support the implementation of the project through positive engagement, raising awareness and support in the community.   

Not applicable 

5 persons

Most of our team members grew up in these targeted communities in Northern Nigeria and so know first hand the struggles that women in these environments face in terms of education, deprivation and marginalisation. 

And some of the team members have female family relations that never had the opportunity to go to school whereas their male counterparts did.

And having lived in the United Kingdom also, all team members know the value of education to the attainment of positive life outcomes.

In addition to being well educated both in Africa and the UK, the team collectively have over 40 years of combined working experience in various fields of human endeavour. All members of the team have various levels of experience in child education,teaching and lecturing. So they have a good understanding of the value this project will provide for beneficiaries.

 The team has a member who is a skilled Engineer with over ten years’ experience of Innovation and sustainable infrastructure projects implementation and management. Another team member has 4 MSc degrees in addition to project management, business analysis and team leading skills.

The youngest member of the team is an undergraduate medical student in the UK with experiences in child education and keen interest in female healthcare and well-being.

We are therefore well-equipped with the skills to relate with the targeted group and to successfully deliver this project.

None

Not applicable

Seeking funding through donations and grants.

We want to see more educated women in deprived areas.

We want a world where women are not just seen as house wives and sex toys but rather vital participants and contributors within their communities that are as respected and valved as their male counterparts. 

We want to see women having access to education so they can be empowered, turn their lives around and become leaders in their communities and provide for themselves and their families without relying solely on men. 

As a new organisation we will need support and assistance from these highlighted partners who have more experience in app development, charity work and female education that will be beneficial for the successful implementation of our proposed project.

- laptop/ tablet manufacturing companies 

- network/ data companies

- women empowerment groups

- disability educational experts 

- solar power companies 

- universities 

With our app we will be providing education to girls and women. With education, women will have the tools they require to improve their quality of lives and become more socioeconomically stable. Education is something you can’t take away from someone, so we will be providing women with the tools to progress that cannot be taken away. 

With our educational app, the girls will have access to courses involving STEM studies. They will also come in contact with other mentors or STEM related workers through the app that will be able to teach them and inspire them to take on careers in STEM. In the future they will also be able to pass on these skills and encourage other girls to follow similar paths.  One of the team members is a STEM Ambassador in the UK and so understands the importance of giving more opportunities to girls to embrace STEM careers.