Bridge Launches a Global Education Campaign

Raheem Akingbolu

Bridge International Academies has launched the public awareness initiative to draw attention to the need for high-quality affordable education options for the underprivileged children worldwide.

In the new campaign, three of the cast members; Naomi, Samuel and Rose are among those who talk about how the education provided by Bridge International Academies has changed their lives, asking people across the world to share their story.

The three new empowering short videos showcase pupils and families from communities living in extreme poverty, often earning less than $1.90 a day. The mothers, fathers, children and their teachers profiled make clear that they are determined to craft a better life for their children, their pupils and themselves by pursuing education to escape poverty and find a better future.

A recent report showed that worldwide, there are 263 million children and young people out of school, of which 61 million are primary school aged children. 9 million of these numbers are in Nigeria. In addition, there are an estimated 330 million children who are in school, but not learning. The most recent official estimate puts the global shortage of teachers at 69 million.

As a whole system and school intervention agency, Bridge runs schools in struggling communities including the notorious Nairobi Matabre slum, the Nigerian slum Alimosho, the Al-Shabaab territory in northeast Kenya, the impoverished regions of eastern India and across places once torn apart by Ebola and civil war in Liberia.

The agency has in the last eight years been working in over 700 communities by leveraging on technology to deliver content to local teachers, while also empowering them to support their pupils to succeed. Through its proprietary technology platform, Bridge has created a global ecosystem that connects over 6000 classrooms and teachers, enabling teaching, learning and information sharing across 5 countries and 2 continents. In Nigeria, Bridge currently provides quality, low-cost education to over 7000 low-income families in 37 local communities.
Bridge co-founder, Dr. Shannon May said: “We are happy to launch this new global educational campaign aimed at given voices and educational rights to the underprivileged children all around the world”

“The voices of those who are directly impacted by poor education, absent teachers and failing schools are rarely heard. These films are designed to empower Bridge parents, teachers and children and make their voices heard.
“Too often, debates about education in Africa or India are dominated by those from the West, with little space for mothers and fathers and teachers on the education front lines. We want to change that.”

In the new video, Naomi, one of Bridge’s Graduate scholarship recipients said “I am a girl who had no future so I joined Bridge. My favourite are the teachers; they gave their best in teaching us. My dream is to become a doctor and Bridge has given me that confidence to face every obstacle. I feel great already, I feel like I am already an important person to the world.”