By Olivia Nnorom
…targets up-skilling of 10m Africans in 10yrs
Educational technology platform GetBundi has secured approval from the Imo State Ministry of Education for the establishment and operation of its GetBundi online STEM and Digital Skills Centre.
The approval came via a letter dated October 31, 2022 with the title “Approval to Operate a Private Digital Skills Acquisition Centre” and signed by L. I. C. Okereke, Deputy Director (STTE), for the Honourable Commissioner, Ministry of Education.
“I am directed to refer to your application dated 22nd August, 2022 on the above subject and to convey the approval granted by the Honourable Commissioner, Ministry of Education, Owerri, Imo State for your Centre which particulars are stated hereunder, to operate as a skills acquisition centre leading to examinations conducted by government recognized bodies with effect from 1st December 2022,” the letter said.
GetBundi STEM and Digital Skills Centre is a brainchild of GetBundi, an edtech platform designed to deliver high quality, engaging and accessible Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) courses focused on six years of post-primary education as well as Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) skills.
Commenting on the approval, Osita Oparaugo, founder of GetBundi, restated GetBundi’s commitment to its vision of up-skilling, through the STEM and digital skills centre, 10 million Africans by 2032 and beyond in order to create an inclusive sustainable development driven by technology.
“We have a vision to upskill 10 million Africans in 10 years, 2023-2032. We have tagged this plan as ‘The GetBundi VISION 2032’,” Oparaugo said.
He said the centre would start with six years of secondary school STEM subjects of about 1,008 hours and 312 hours of digital skills courses that can make holders instantly employable in the 21st century and beyond.
The GetBundi founder said the digital skills will cover courses like Coding, Graphics, Cinematography, Video Editing, Digital Marketing, Cyber Security, etc.
He further said that GetBundi, interestingly, has some of the digital skills courses delivered in Pidgin English which, according to him, would be a game changer.
“One of our goals with GetBundi is to enable our learners to acquire knowledge, skills and behaviours that will help them to transform their lives and improve the prospects of employment and productivity in employment,” he said.
“Jobs will vanish, new jobs will be created and majority will be in the digital space. Our target is to upskill and reskill Nigerians/Africans with 21st century skills that will make them instantly employable,” he said.
Speaking on the STEM courses, Oparaugo said they are based on the West African School Syllabus for secondary schools and can be used as teachers’ aid, to support continuous learning for in-school students, and as a study guide for out-of-school students.
“It can also be used to prepare those standing in for competitive examinations like WASSCE, NECO Examinations, and the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination organized by JAMB,” he said.
GetBundi MVP was launched in Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial capital, in June 2022 and has since continued to gain acceptance across the country and beyond. The dedicated web and mobile app versions will be live on December 1, 2022.
