MTN Solutions Space Venture Incubation Programme for digital Entrepreneurs 2018 (Fully Funded)

The Venture Incubation Programme (VIP) is designed to provide a supportive ecosystem to help startups build viable and scalable innovation-driven companies. Startups have access to a range of resources including co-working space, practical learning clinics, mentors, weekly check-ins and staff advisors, and a community of peers who learn and grow together.
The VIP offers startups several key advantages. We’re located in the heart of the V&A Waterfront, where startups are on the doorstep of Africa’s fastest growing tech hub. We offer proof-of-concept (POC) collaboration opportunities with our industry partner MTN Group and a pool of early-stage investors.
MTN Group is looking for startups that are either building a sustainable Africa through digital solutions for health, education, agriculture, fintech, energy and IoT, or enabling businesses through digital solutions for religion, sport, news and e-commerce.
Application Deadline: 28th FEBRUARY 2018
The programme takes place in Cape Town, South Africa, between 3 April- 30 June 2018. The lead participant needs to be physically in Cape Town for the duration of the programme.
The programme is fully funded, however, that does not include living and travel expenses.

Requirements:
Digital Startups
For the current program at the Solution Space Waterfront we are looking for startups that are developing digital solutions across health, education, agriculture, fintech, energy IoT, religion, sport, news and e-commerce.
PROTOTYPE / MVP
Most of the startups enter with some sort of business case, early version of a product and a couple of team members. They have a working prototype with a minimum feature set ready to conduct early-market testing to further establish product and market fit.
TEAM OF 2+
We’re not looking for single founders, but teams of at least two with the right balance of skills and ability to build, test and deliver. The founder or majority shareholder must be the lead participant and must have the ability to commit full-time to the programme over the three months.
OPPORTUNITY & TRACTION
The initial concept development demonstrates deep and intimate understanding of the problem and market need or opportunity. The idea must have progressed beyond concept and should demonstrate evidence of early market testing, customers, revenues, patents or intellectual property filings.
Benefits:
MTN INDUSTRY PARTNERSHIP
Selected startups will gain access to MTN APIs, MTN Service Delivery Platform, MTN technical experts and mentors to provide feedback and guidance and a package of support from technology partners.
ENTREPRENEURSHIP SKILLS
We apply a learning-by-doing approach. At workshops and clinics, startups learn founder fundamentals and core skills focused on moving the business forward. Startups apply what they learn through practical outcomes from each session.
ADVISORY SERVICES
Access to pro-bono partners and a network of consultants to support with specialist expertise e.g. legal, HR, digital user experience, venture capital.
FEEDBACK & GUIDANCE
Startups receive valuable feedback and guidance from our Entrepreneur-in-Residence and network of experienced mentors and industry partners. Each startup is paired with a mentor for the programme and have access to the Solution Space’s network of GSB alumni and corporate partners.
CO-WORKING & COMMUNITY
We focus on building a vibrant community of entrepreneurs and offer a calendar of regular events designed to increase a startup’s knowledge and expand their network. We prioritize peer learning and mentoring through access to our co-working space and regular office-hours.

APPLY NOW

Visit the Official Webpage of the MTN Solutions Space Venture Incubation Programme 2018

Savvy High School Students Teach Us Valuable Lessons About Future of Learning

As a former high school media teacher, a recent news story about high school journalism students in Utah and their pursuit to publish truly warmed my heart.

The backstory is about how two high school seniors, inquiring why a well-liked history teacher was dismissed from their school, were determined to find the truth regardless of how their school or administration would handle it being published in the school newspaper.

They did interviews, requested public records and soon pried open the proverbial can of worms. Initially, their story was published on the school’s student newspaper website. But after an unprecedented amount of traffic, they discovered that their story was pulled down. Ultimately, they had to publish their story outside of school on their own newly created website just for that reason. (see the full story here: http://bit.ly/HSStudentsPersevere4Truth)

   And that’s what I want to examine. We truly live in a digital DIY world where we don’t depend on others - i.e. school administrators, government officials or supervisors - to share what we think is important for people to know. Naturally, we’ve seen the dark side of this in terms of the amount of inaccurate information shared and posted on social media.

But in the case of the these two high school seniors from Salt Lake City, they are demonstrating the embodiment of both the 1st amendment and learning 21st century style. They knew the truth was more powerful than the medium and therefore exercised what is now available to all students. They don’t need our permission to learn, grown, experience or take ownership of their lives.

         And as much as many of us in education have long promoted the idea of students taking responsibility of their own learning, many may not be ready to keep up with that reality. Our students are more savvy than ever - like we’ve been asking them to be. Students are going to find a work-around and there are new work-arounds being created daily.

The ultimate question for me is do schools and educators continue to try to control and restrict students in a world where they truly work around us? Do we force their pursuit of ownership of their learning outside of school and our systems, or do we work with them to embrace what they can do as part of school?

For example, here just a few things we may want to ask ourselves as we continue to design and implement our learning systems with or without our DIY savvy students in mind?

1. Cell Phones: the fact that we are still banning cell phones and treating them like contraband will always fail. More and more students will realize that other school settings - online, independent study, gap years, testing out and more won’t slow them down with these archaic approaches to technology.

2. Social Media: we need to decide if we are going to teach and lead this important new literacy or approach like many approach cell phones - again contraband. Yes, students are attracted to the “social” in social media, but they are also keenly aware that professionals, business people, entrepreneurs, government official and leaders are leveraging social media throughout their work day to position their company, organization, products, services and brands against their competition. We need to unleash this power of social media to our students in reference to their projects, work and interest. If not, again, we’ll continue to have two worlds : the school world and the real world. And students will be forced to the work-around.

3. Websites, YouTube & More: Do we engage and model for our students in school how to use technology to create and share their work through digital portfolios? For example, we should be having all students create their own websites and YouTube channels, as examples. In far too many schools, this is not even on the radar. There are a few students who will do on their own as it relates to their hobbies, passions and interests. But we should be leading them to use these tools to show and showcase their work and projects. The Gig Economy will demand this from them and they should not be left to maybe discover this on their own.

4. Technology Overall: I’m one of those that believes that tech access in education is truly a student right. And it’s just access and equity. It’s whether we are learning and working in response to the real world and using all tools available to us. The more schools avoid, limit or consider technology as just a nice accoutrements, the more students will search ways to circumvent in order to use technology to do any of the real world pursuits that interest them.

5. Single Source Education: Textbooks are getting a lot of negative attention as well they should be. Yes, we should be ditching our textbooks. Once again, the rest of the working world uses all resources and technology to help them solve problems and do their work. Yet in school, especially in anything that is part of academia, we are sadly married to textbooks - whether in print or digital - and our higher ed. Institutions are really behind here. It’s ironic, universities lead the way in research, but model for their students the limits of relying on a single source for too many classes. Again, our savvy students will learn, with or without us, that are official school resources (textbooks - digital or print) are not only limited and incomplete, but often wrong.

6. Our Learning Culture (s): Thankfully, many educators are realizing that culture is what drives student learning and their learning organizations. Nothing has held on to many of its primitive and often counterproductive traditions more than education. The more schools feels, looks and acts like it always has, the more it continues to stand apart from the real world. Students are clamoring for relevance, connection and application. Schools needs to look a lot more like and feel a lot less like something that doesn’t exists anymore outside of itself.

Thank you Connor Spahr and Max Gordon for reminding me, and hopefully many others in education, that the true power in learning is directly realized through student empowerment, voice and ownership. And for you history buffs, nice to see that the first amendment is alive and well sometimes in our country and that, as usual, the young people often get it better than their adult leaders.

Sterling Bank Graduate Trainee Recruitment Programme 2018 for Nigerians

Application Deadline: 11:59pm on the 10th of February 2018.
Are you interested in a career that aligns with your passion, where talents are nurtured and challenged to express their capabilities in an innovative and agile environment?
If Yes…..Then join the Sterling Bank Graduate Trainee Program 2018.
Requirements:
Sterling Bank seek candidates with the following qualities:
Passionate
Adaptable
Team-spirited
Innovative
Takes Responsibility and Ownership
Integrity.

Basic Qualifications & Requirements

Second Class Upper Graduates from a recognised University.
Applicants must have completed NYSC.
Applicants must not be older than 26 years of age.

Application Process
You will be invited to go through the following steps:
Step 1: Computer-Based Test.
Step 2: Assessment center & Documentation.

Successful candidates from the Computer Based Test would be invited for an Assessment Centre. Candidates are expected to demonstrate key capabilities and also exhibit qualities and skills required for smooth operations in the Bank. Candidates will also be required to provide evidence of relevant qualifications/credentials for verification.
Step 3: Final Interview.
Successful candidates from the Assessment Centre would be required to meet with a member of the Executive Management Team for the final selection process.
Step 4: Foundation School.
Successful candidates from the final interview will be offered a place in our Graduate Trainee foundation school programme, wehre successful candidates will be trained and tested on practical, social, and technical aspects of the Bank. Thereafter, successful candidates from the school will be offered employment into the Bank.
Qualified and interested candidates should click on the “Apply Now”  before 11:59pm on the 10th of February 2018.
APPLY NOW

Call for Volunteers for Internet Freedom Forum 2018 (#IFF2018)

From April 24 to 26 2018, Paradigm Initiative will host the annual Internet Freedom Forum (IFF) in Abuja, Nigeria.

Internet Freedom Forum is a global platform for discussions and engagements around various topical issues touching on Internet Freedom with a particular focus on the African continent.

To this end, we are calling on volunteers to work in an ad-hoccapacity to support the #IFF2018 planning and execution team in delivering a global and highly engaging event in April 2018.

Volunteers will be required to work in the following areas:

1. Logistics
2. Media/Publicity
3. Protocols and Ushering

As a volunteer, you will be exposed to various skills such as logistics, reporting, planning, and various event management skills. Also, you will get a chance to interact and network with key Internet Freedom stakeholders from all over Africa in the course of your volunteering experience.

We seek volunteers for these two tracks:

1. 2-month volunteering stint from February through April 2017, to work with the team at the final stages of planning;
2. 1-week volunteering stint, to work as protocol/logistics personnel for the event.

If you are interested in volunteering for #IFF2018 please fill the form below on or before February 20, 2018.

Please specify which track you are interested in. (2 months Volunteering Stint from March 5 to April 27, 2018, to work with the team at the final stages of planning or 1-week volunteering stint, to work as protocol/logistics personnel for the event)

Apply here

Culture Trip Search for Freelance Writers in Africa 2018

Application Deadline: Ongoing

Eligible Countries: London – Paris -Belgium – England – Scotland – Wales – Ireland – Germany – France – Italy – Croatia – Montenegro – Slovenia – Austria – Switzerland – Poland – Spain – Portugal – Turkey – Greece – Hungary – Bulgaria – Romania – Czech Republic – Slovakia – Russia – Sweden – Norway – Finland – Iceland – Denmark – Baltic states – New York – Washington, DC – Miami – Boston – Chicago – Orlando – Texas (Austin) – Nashville – New Orleans – California – West Coast, USA – Canada – Mexico – Hong Kong – China – India – Sri Lanka – Japan – Korea – Taiwan – Malaysia – Singapore – Indonesia – Cambodia – Maldives – Philippines – Vietnam – Burma – Thailand – Australia – New Zealand  – Pacific Islands (Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Tahiti) – Israel – UAE – Jordan – Oman – Iran – Lebanon – South Africa – Morocco – Egypt – Tunisia – Ghana – Nigeria – Kenya – African Islands – Puerto Rico – Cuba – Brazil  – Colombia – Bolivia – Uruguay / Paraguay – Peru – Chile – Argentina – Ecuador – Costa Rica – The Carribean

To Be Taken At (Country): London, UK

About the Award: Founded by London-based, former academic psychiatrist Dr Kris Naudts, Culture Trip is a highly ambitious and fast growing, global tech/media startup with offices in London, New York and Tel Aviv and a vast global contributor network of writers, videographers, photographers and illustrators around the world. The company was recently featured in Forbes as one of five fast-growing businesses to watch in 2017.

After a few years of bootstrapping and experimenting, the start-up received a seed round of $2M by top media/tech investor in summer 2015. This was followed by a $20M Series A in summer 2016. Since then, the company has ramped up its technological capabilities and editorial output and built initial sales teams in London and New York. From only 12 employees in summer 2016 it has grown to more than 120 in-house staff, hiring top talent from Google, Facebook, Buzzfeed, Condé Nast, The Guardian and ITV. The company sees itself as a tech company at its core with media and creative work as its output. We’re passionate about bringing compelling content to every corner of the world through our global community of writers, videographers and photographers, and illustrators.

Within the last 6 months, the company has experienced triple digit growth across its social media accounts, now with more than 4 million followers. Its Facebook account is now ranked as one of the top three travel brands on the platform worldwide. Over 10 million people visit Culture Trip’s website each month (up from 2.5 million MUVs only 6 months ago) and more than 400k people have installed our app. We are set for yet more explosive growth and are going through a major recruitment drive for our editorial, commercial, technology and social teams around the world. Our vision is bold: we aim to create the world’s largest media company, powered by a global community and cutting-edge technology.

Eligibility: Culture Trip is looking for an experienced freelance writer to produce local content covering a range of genres: travel, food, art, fashion, literature, film, TV, music, architecture, home & design, tech, health & wellness and sports. You will be remotely managed by a Culture Trip Commissioning Editor based in our London office. Candidate must be with:

• At least 1 year of experience writing for a variety of online publications on a freelance basis
• A varied portfolio, preferably with a focus in travel and arts & culture writing
• Specialist knowledge of specific locations or areas within your country
• Ability to maintain an authoritative editorial voice across all content
• Ability to work quickly yet thoroughly, producing a large amount of quality content to tight deadlines
• Excellent organizational skills are an absolute must
• Strong understanding of what makes a great piece of content
• Strong understanding of the differences between social media- and search engine-optimized content
• Working knowledge of WordPress is essential

Number of Awards: Not specified

How to Apply: Email on freelance@theculturetrip.com, attaching your CV, a short cover letter and providing writing samples or a link to your portfolio.

• In your cover letter, make sure to indicate which specific regions or cities within your country that you’re most familiar with, and how.
• Please also state your current salary/freelance rate and any notice period in your email.
• Make sure you include ‘[Name of Region] Writer’ in the subject line.

Please note we will not be considering incomplete applications.

Visit the Program Webpage for Details

Award Providers: Culture Trip

Goi Peace Foundation/UNESCO International Essay Contest 2018 for Young People (USD1,000+ Prize and Fully Funded to Japan)

Application Deadline: June 15, 2018 (23:59 your local time).
The Goi Peace Foundation annual essay contest is organized in an effort to harness the energy, creativity and initiative of the world’s youth in promoting a culture of peace and sustainable development. It also aims to inspire society to learn from the young minds and to think about how each of us can make a difference in the world.
*This program is an activity of the UNESCO Global Action Programme (GAP) on Education for Sustainable Development (ESD).

Requirements:
1. Essays may be submitted by anyone up to 25 years old (as of June 15, 2018) in one of the following age categories: a) Children (ages up to 14) b) Youth (ages 15 – 25)
2. Essays must be 700 words or less in English, French, Spanish or German, or 1600 characters or less in Japanese, excluding essay title and cover page. Essays may be typed or printed.
3. Entries may be submitted by postal mail or online.
* IMPORTANT: To send your essay online, you must go to the online registration page and follow the required steps.
Entries submitted by postal mail must include a cover page (free format) indicating
(1) category (Children or Youth) (2) your essay title (3) your name (4) address (5) phone number (6) e-mail (7) nationality (8) age as of June 15, 2018 (9) gender (10) school name (if applicable) (11) word count.
Teachers and youth directors may submit a collection of essays from their class or group. Please enclose a list of participants’ names, ages and the name and contact information of the submitting teacher or director.
* Entries missing any of the above information will not be considered.
* Goi Peace are unable to confirm receipt of essays.

Essays must be original and unpublished. Plagiarized entries will be rejected.
Essays must be written by one person. Co-authored essays are not accepted.
Copyright of the essays entered will be assigned to the organizer.
If you have questions, please consult the FAQ section below.

Prize:

The following awards will be given in the Children’s category and Youth category respectively:
1st Prize: Certificate, prize of 100,000 Yen (approx. US$880 as of January 2018) and gift … 1 entrant
2nd Prize: Certificate, prize of 50,000 Yen (approx. US$440 as of January 2018) and gift … 2 entrants
3rd Prize: Certificate and gift … 5 entrants
Honorable Mention: Certificate and gift … 25 entrants
* 1st prize winners will be invited to the award ceremony to be held in Tokyo, Japan on November 23, 2018
and will receive the Minister of Education Award. (Travel expenses will be covered by the organizer.)
* Additional awards (Recognition for Effort, Best School Award, School Incentive Award) will be given if applicable.
* All prize winners will be announced on October 31, 2018 (Japan time) on this website. Certificates and gifts will be mailed to the winners in December 2018.
* We are unable to answer individual inquiries concerning contest results.

For further inquiries concerning the International Essay Contest for Young People, please contact essay@goipeace.or.jp

Organized by
The Goi Peace Foundation

Endorsed by
The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan
Japanese National Commission for UNESCO, Japan Private High School Federation
Tokyo Metropolitan Board of Education, Japan Broadcasting Corporation, Nikkei Inc.
Supported by
FELISSIMO CORPORATION, SEIKO HOLDINGS CORPORATION

For More Information: Visit the Official Webpage of the Goi Peace Foundation/UNESCO International Essay Contest 2018

How primary and secondary teachers differ and why it matters

by Marie-Helene Doumet, 
Senior Analyst, Directorate for Education and Skills

Learning needs vary as we evolve through life. The early years of education set the stage for children’s well-being, cognitive and social-emotional development; young children starting out in the world require stability, reassurance, and encouragement, and need a warm and caring teacher. At primary school, teachers manage the class, teach all subjects, and help children develop not only basic competencies, but also emotional and social awareness. While this setting still requires a broad knowledge of many subjects, dealing directly with students’ social and emotional development also helps teachers bond with their class, which is essential to learning at such a young age. However, as children progress to high school, learning becomes more about the subject: secondary teachers focus on one or several subjects which they teach to a number of different classes. Their performance will be more strongly evaluated by how well their students perform on these subjects, rather than on how their students develop emotionally and socially.

Other differences exist between the two levels of education. While the entire profession is generally plagued with an ageing workforce, secondary schools are particularly affected by the rising average age of teachers. On the other hand, while it is true that men have always been outnumbered by women in teaching, this trend is much more striking at primary than at secondary level. Both trends have worsened in the past ten years and do not show signs of slowing down.

In spite of these differences between teachers at different education levels, teaching policy is all too often determined by a “one size fits all” approach. This month’s Education Indicators in Focus examines exactly in which ways primary and lower secondary teachers differ across a range of system-level indicators and why it matters, not only for the quality of teaching in the classroom, but also for the attractiveness of teaching as a profession.  

Let’s first start with what it takes to become a teacher. While the type of degree needed to teach primary or lower secondary level is the same in most countries, the content of the training programme differs: primary teachers have more pedagogical and practical training than lower secondary teachers, who are considered to be more “subject matter experts”. However, secondary level has its own set of pedagogical challenges, with teachers having to deal with moody teenagers and poor behaviour. Putting teachers in the classroom without the proper pedagogical or practical knowledge is akin to getting doctors to operate without clinical practice. We would be aghast if this were to happen in hospitals, yet we seem to accept it in the classroom. 

Certification is not everything, and teaching quality stems from much more than the way teachers deliver lessons. It is also strongly affected by their working conditions. Both primary and secondary teachers work approximately the same number of statutory hours, but they allocate their time differently. The figure above shows that lower secondary teachers spend on average 10% less time teaching than their primary colleagues, though in countries such as France and Turkey, this can reach 30% less. The time actually spent teaching matters less if teachers are well trained and deliver effective classes; however, with the long hours required, at school and at home, teachers are finding less and less time to invest in their own continuous development and other activities that would benefit learning. 

Finally, the perception of a fair salary can be pivotal in attracting and retaining teachers. While primary and lower secondary teacher salaries are comparable, secondary teachers hold an edge in more than half of OECD countries. In contrast to many other professions, those with a higher degree are not necessarily paid more: teachers in Finland hold a master’s degree, but earn less in relative terms than Korean teachers with a bachelor’s degree. A fairer compensation compared to other tertiary-educated workers would help attract a more gender balanced workforce and attract new talent that would renew the profession with innovative ideas.

Policy decisions to improve the attractiveness and effectiveness of the teaching profession will always involve a trade-off between these different factors.  Although many efforts have traditionally focused on reducing the size of classes, usually a popular measure for the broad public, nothing works more to enhance the quality of learning than the teachers themselves. However, striving for higher quality is not likely to be the result of one policy change or reform, but requires an understanding of all the factors that affect the profession holistically, from teacher training to long-term support, to actual teaching conditions, including working hours and pay. Recognizing the specific working conditions of primary and secondary teachers would lead to a more targeted policy response. Teachers at each level face different challenges.  Let’s not assume they have the same solution.  

Links

Education Indicators in Focus No. 58 - How do primary and secondary teachers compare?
Education at a Glance 2017: OECD Indicators

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