MIT Solve

Step 2

Our Solution

PROJECT JES (JOBS-EDUCATION-STARTUPS)

Our solution's stage of development:

Pre-Seed

Our solution:

JES uses a learn-earn network model that connect Students, innovation hubs, universities, and employers, to ensure the acquisition of the necessary skills for the 21st-century workforce, towards the creation of start-ups and employment, by leveraging project based learning, online learning, gaming, and mentorship.

Our pitch:

The World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs 2017 analysis found that the core skills required across all occupations will be different by 2020. The report also says that 49% of current jobs would no longer exist within the next 10years. And with Africa set to have the largest young working age by 2030, coupled with the understanding that her outdated school curriculum is incapable of helping her youths acquire these skills, it becomes imperative to innovate learning or risk another wasted generation that could potentially transform Africa.

In identifying the best approach to mitigate the challenge of having unskilled youths in Africa, several initiatives have indeed been birthed with the best of them lacking reproducibility and only affordable to the rich. Hence, the need for a more inclusive solution that is financially sustainable, reproducible, cost effective and accessible to the disadvantaged youths in Africa.

Project JES uses a learn-earn network model that connect Students, innovation hubs, universities and employers, to ensure the acquisition of the necessary skills for the 21st century workforce, towards the creation of startups and employment, by leveraging project based learning, online learning, gaming and mentorship.

JES is aimed at training over 1500 tertiary and secondary students within the first 6 months, with a goal to scale to other parts of Africa within the next five years. These trained students will be linked to companies where they can practice acquired skills, contribute these skills towards making the businesses 21st century compliant, and earn stipends accordingly

Additionally, Project JES will generate over a million dollars worth of potentially skilled youths in Africa in the first 2 years, creating at least 20 new businesses annually. JES will bridge the wealth gap, facilitate the acquisition of 21st century skills, and the creation of new startups, while sustaining itself.

The problem:

The 2017 WEF analysis found that the core skills required across all occupations will be different by 2020. With rising cost of education and obsolete curriculum across developing countries, there is growing fears that developing nations of the world might not be able to train her youth for the Future of work. With Africa set to have the largest young working age by 2030, the unemployment statistics also tells another bleak story. A growing population of African youths is either unemployed or under-employed because of outdated knowledge and skill that are irrelevant in the present and future business workplace.

Why our solution will solve the problem:

In our personal interactions with friends and colleagues that own companies that require 21st century skills, we found out that most skills are available mostly online in developing and under-developing countries. This led us to believe that by adopting innovative hubs where less privileged students can learn the skills both online and offline, where they can collaborate, be networked with companies where they can practice their skills and earn. This trainees will also mentor and train young students in secondary schools through the creation of school clubs. All this will be done at no or low cost

Who recommended you to Solve - or - how did you find Solve?

opportunityforafricans.com

Step 3

Step 4

The technologies we employ:

Consumer-facing software (mobile applications, cloud services)
Digital systems (machine learning, control systems, big data)
Manufacturing & process optimization
Management & design approaches

Why our solution is unique:

It uses offline board games and online games to teach digital concepts and ideas needed for the 21st century workplace to the underprivileged youths, while leveraging available technology at minimum cost towards the acquisition of the new skills. It operates a project based learning system for participants to learn and earn.It encourages hierarchy learning - where students at a higher level of education mentor the ones below.

Why our solution is human-centered:

JES allows secondary and tertiary students, while still in school, can acquire the needed skills for the 21st century workforce through online learning, project based learning and gamification, and at the most minimal cost. At the centre of the Project JES will be innovation hubs. These hubs provide the students with mentorship and resources to facilitate the acquisition of these skills. Hubs will connect students with institutions to provide internship placements that will aid demonstration of these skills, while also earning stipends. Projects and concepts developed by these students are scaled into businesses by these hubs, towards creating startups.

How people will access our solution:

JES will be deployed by first organizing awareness campaigns –online and offline - to sensitize the youths towards the need for new sets of skills. This will be followed by establishing JES clubs in universities and secondary schools. These clubs will be supervised by the Innovation Hubs. Acquiring these skills will be executed using these tools: projects structured to simulate and teach a specific skill, curated online resources to teach a specific skill, board games that won’t require internet data, and collaborative learning. JES will partner with telecommunication companies to ensure the online resources are assessed at minimal data cost.

Technology-Readiness Level:

1-3 (Formulation)

Step 5

Step 6