Cameroon

Project Location

Country: 
Cameroon
City: 
Yaounde

Organization

Organization Name: 
Nathalie Tekam
Organization Type: 
Other
Specify: 
Grants for the first year, grants and sale of services for the second year, and self sufficience for the third year

Website

www.lets-getready.org

Privacy Law

Consenso al trattamento dei dati personali
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I do authorize the FMD to the use of my personal data.

Project Type

Education up to 18 years

Project Description

Description Frase (max. 500 characters): 

GetReady already brings ICT into classrooms through Kebisu, a web tutoring platform to be used for regular educational activities, develops children' creativity and innovation potential through STEM talks, and breaks gender stereotyping related to STEM fields, through role modeling by successful professional women in STEM.

Project Summary (max. 2000 characters): 

GetReady was initiated in 2013 by young Cameroonian individuals led by Ms. Nathalie Tekam, who is implementing the project today. It all started with the desire to impact the mindset of children and youth aged 8-18 years on three points: help them discover their creativity and innovation potential, help them to appropriate ICTs as development tools rather than as toys (internet usage in Cameroon is growing, but meanwhile, about 50% of our traffic is oriented toward leisure), break the myth that STEM studies and careers are too difficult or frustrating for girls and women. To achieve these objectives, the following strategies were adopted. 1.Offering to primary and secondary schools, a web tutoring platform (to be used locally) containing interactive and multimedia scientific educational resources complying with Cameroonian official scholar programs, as well as attractive and customized content related to STEM fields and careers. Kebisu, this tutoring platform, is edited and provided freely by a Cameroonian startup named ITISS, co-founded by Nathalie Tekam (www.itiss-group.com) 2. For the most underprivileged schools, offering computers to allow them to use the platform. 3. Organizing STEM talks in schools, animated exclusively by women in STEM, and including activities inspired by the techbridge toolkit (http://www.techbridgegirls.org). For the first year, funded by personal contribution and the support of a WeTech Seed Fund grant (http://www.iie.org/who-we-are/news-and-events/press-center/press-release...), GetReady could benefit to 4 schools, for a total of more than 800 students (boys and girls). Feedback was collected from 298 individuals: 261 students (including 117 girls), 23 teachers and 14 parents. 100% of students expressed that GetReady impacted them positively concerning their understanding of STEM subjects and careers, and 77% of girls described STEM fields as interesting or easy. 1 IT room was created (the very first one in a small community near Yaounde), 2 IT rooms were upgraded, representatives from 4 Cameroonian ministries and from private companies were sensitized on the issues of improving educational methods through ICT, creating an early IT literacy among young children, and reducing the gender gap in STEM fields.

How long has your project been running?

2013-11-29 23:00:00

Objectives and Innovative Aspects

By the end of the year 2016:
- Making 100 000 primary and secondary school students to be IT literate, and to consider ICT tools as development tools rather than toys.
- Getting 50 women to volunteer to serve as role models for girls, with the aim to get more of them into STEM fields and career
- Witnessing an increase of 75% in the number of beneficiary girls willing to get into STEM fields and careers later.
Our instruments are:
- A tutoring platform named Kebisu, provided free of charges to school, to be used during regular educational activities;
- The provision of computers and associated services to schools that need equipment to be able to use Kebisu;
- the organization of STEM talks in schools, animated by successful professional women in STEM.

Results

Describe the results achieved by your project How do you measure (parameters) these. (max. 2000 characters): 
For its first year, GetReady could benefit to 4 schools, for a total of more than 800 students (boys and girls). Feedback was collected from 298 individuals: 261 students (including 117 girls), 23 teachers and 14 parents. 100% of students expressed that GetReady impacted them positively concerning their understanding of STEM subjects and careers, and 77% of girls described STEM fields as interesting or easy. 1 IT room was created (the very first one in a small community near Yaounde), 2 IT rooms were upgraded, representatives from 4 Cameroonian ministries and from private companies were sensitized on the issues of improving educational methods through ICT, creating an early IT literacy among young children, and reducing the gender gap in STEM fields.
How many users interact with your project monthly and what are the preferred forms of interaction? (max. 500 characters): 

At least 800 students and educators interact with GetReady during the school year, through the usage of the web tutoring platform installed in beneficiary schools. Added to that, during the first year, 298 individuals (students, teachers and parents), attended STEM talks organized in beneficiary schools. 2 community events were attended by 85 key actors of the community.

Sustainability

What is the full duration of your project (from beginning to end)?: 
From 1 to 3 years
What is the approximate total budget for your project (in Euro)?: 
From 10.001 to 30.000 Euro
What is the source of funding for your project?: 
Other
Is your project economically self sufficient now?: 
No
Since when?: 
2015-06-29 22:00:00
When is it expected to become self-sufficient?: 
2016-08-30 22:00:00

Transferability

Has your project been replicated/adapted elsewhere?: 
No
What lessons can others learn from your project? (max. 1500 characters): 

- Close communication actions are more efficient than mass communication for schools that are the most in need concerning ICT literacy issues. Schools having basic but insufficient IT equipment are the most eager to spontaneously apply to programs similar to GetReady. Schools having no IT equipment at all often don't even get the information, or don't consider themselves as eligible.
- Initiatives aiming to influence educational methods through ICT, and/or to impact girls about STEM during regular school hours, need to impact their teachers first. Even when they may be interested in the initiative globally, many consider any ICT or STEM related innovation requiring their personal involvement as an undesired additional workload.

Are you available to help others to start or work on similar projects?: 
Yes

Background Information

Barriers and Solutions (max. 1000 characters): 
The major challenges faced was to get teachers actively involved in the project. Our solution has been a huge effort of communication, sensitization and identification of key leaders able to motivate their colleagues.
Future plans and wish list (max. 750 characters): 
Our future plans include: - going online (to give the possibility to individuals anywhere in Cameroon to have an individual account on Kebisu, even if they are not related to a beneficiary schools) - Take profit of the increasing usage of smartphones, by publishing a mobile version of Kebisu. Teenagers using their internet connection and their smartphone to study and learn while "playing", will be more eager to look for useful content on internet than if their smartphone is simply a "toy". We believe that this will lead to more innovation, and even to early entrepreneurship. - Addressing schools in more rural areas of Cameroon. This necessitate more material and human investment, but they are the most in need of GetReady's benefits.
web STEM internet ICT girls leadership education Cameroon
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