EduFun Technik Limited, on the 14th of February 2021, announced the launch of the Queen Afrique Academy.
Queen Afrique Academy will host a 6 weeks experiential learning program driven by an ambitious vision to increase the number of African women actively participating in the STEM space within Africa by Three Hundred Thousand (300000) in the next five (5) years.
The Academy, which offers full Scholarship to participants, is targeted at young girls and women from low and middle income backgrounds across Africa.
It will provide hands-on training and instruction in digital skills like Coding, Robotics, Digital Marketing, Photography and Cinematography, and Essential Soft Skills.
It will also expose the participants to scholarship opportunities, internships and job placements where possible.
The program team will be led by the CEO of Edufun Technik, Uche Onwuamaegbu-Ugwu, who is a Mandela Washington Fellow and an Obama Leaders Fellow.
Uchenna, who led a team of girls from Onitsha in Anambra State to win the global grand prize, over contestants from 17 countries in the 2017 Technovation Challenge Pitch Competition in Silicon Valley, is very passionate about women participation in STEM and spends a large chunk of her time mentoring girls in STEM.
Speaking on the rationale behind the set-up of the Academy, Uchenna said, “Globally, female students’ enrolment is particularly low in ICT (3 per cent), natural science, mathematics and statistics (5 per cent) and in engineering, manufacturing and construction (8 per cent).
A research by (Microsoft, in 2018) shows that 40 percent of girls think that STEM related jobs like Engineering, Mechanics, Coding, Robotics and programming are for boys, with this assumption when they get to the university the percentage increases to 58 percent.
In Africa the major cause of the Gender Gap in Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) field is due to the believed stereotype that women are not good for STEM career.”
She said the project is designed to bridge the gender gap in STEM education across Africa by taking STEM out of the regular classrooms thereby democratising access to STEM education for girls and leapfrogging their career advancement in preparation for future STEM jobs.
To flag off the second phase of the project, Tiger Foods Limited is partnering to provide scholarships to 20 girls to attend the Academy in Anambra State, Nigeria.
Speaking about the partnership with Tiger Foods Ltd, the Director of Strategy and Partnerships Edufun Technik, Ifedy Eze said, “We are excited to be partnering with Tiger Foods Ltd on this project.
Over the years, the company has demonstrated an unwavering commitment to advancing the cause of sustainable human capital development especially in the area of digital skills building.
Through this partnership, the company has made a commitment to change the lives of young girls and women in Nigeria for good.
The company has also committed to creating more opportunities for decent work and economic growth that improves the overall livelihood of youth and women in line with Goal 8 of the SDGs.”
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