iEduk brings a fun and affordable education solution to Côte d’Ivoire

Out of the same cohort of students who enters primary school in Côte d’Ivoire, only one-third will will graduate from high school. Two thirds of students will gradually drop out of school over the years – limiting their ability to access stable and decent employment, limiting as well their contribution to the country’s development. The factors that explain this terrible statistic are multiple, including repetition, academic failure, early pregnancy, distance from schools and poverty.

To help meet the challenges of the education system, many young African companies are developing innovative solutions. Among these companies, ENEZA Education occupies a special place. Founded in Kenya in 2011 and having won several awards including the 2018 “Best Mobile Innovation for Education” by the GSMA, a global network of mobile operators, Eneza offers a low-cost, accessible after-school support system on mobile phones.

iEduk validated by the National Commission for the Accreditation of Educational Material

Since the beginning of its journey, Eneza Education has made great strides towards its ambition to expand its impact on the African continent, helping more than 530,000 students in Kenya, Ghana, and now Côte d’Ivoire, to effectively review their courses via their mobile phones. In January 2019, the company officially launched iEduk, the Ivorian adaptation of their interactive SMS learning platform. This platform integrates a fun and innovative educational approach whose objective is to overcome the limitations encountered by students in their learning process, especially the difficulty in accessing school materials and individualized educational support.

“With iEduk, we want to capitalize on the expansion of mobile phones in our society to allow students to have access, at any time, on their phone or on their parents’ phone, to quality educational material designed by professionals,” explains Carole Attoungbré, Director in Côte d’Ivoire of Eneza Education.

iEduk will allow students from CM1 to 3rd grade – soon to Terminale – to review their courses using mini-lessons and educational quizzes accessible by SMS. However, as pointed out by Carole Attoungbré, “iEduk is not just an SMS review tool. It also allows parents to be involved in their children’s learning process, by giving their kids regular feedback on their performance and how to improve it. The content of the platform, designed with the support of national education experts, is aligned with the official school program and has been validated by the National Commission for the Accreditation of Educational Material.

Nestlé offers 500 children the opportunity to learn via iEduk

The General Manager of the Jacobs Foundation, Sandro Giuliani, believes that the Government of Côte d’Ivoire is making great efforts to improve access and quality of education. Since 2015 the Jacobs Foundation has been supporting the Ivorian Government in this mission through the TRECC program (Transforming Education in Cocoa Communities). Beyond the traditional players in the education space, this program mobilizes new actors to help strengthen the quality of education, including the cocoa and chocolate industry and social enterprises such as Eneza. “We have invested in this young company” explains Sandro Giuliani, “so that more children in Côte d’Ivoire can have access to a quality educational support system”.

The innovative approach of this Edtech start-up is also attractive to players in the cocoa and chocolate industry. The risk of dropping out of school is particularly high for children living in rural settings, particularly in cocoa farming areas, where learning conditions and environment are often difficult.

“In some regions, many children do not have access to education, and those who do are at risk of dropping out due to poor academic performance or structural difficulties. With Eneza, we want to provide these children with adequate educational support to keep them in school and away from child labour. “explains Mathilde Sokoty, Head of Fight against Child Labour for Cocoa Plan at Nestlé Côte d’Ivoire.