ReThink Education Project
Statistically, a very significant portion of secondary school graduates in rural Nigeria will not attend universities, and of those who attend universities, a large percentage of them will remain unemployed with the rest largely under-employed.
“Career advisory services in the rural communities in Nigeria, is a near-absence in most schools. Students and candidates seeking admission into higher institutions of learning are often led by peer-group, parental pressure or personal instincts to make their career choices! The fact that the career guidance and counseling have scarcity values has always affected the outcomes of educational programs.”
Through the RETHINK EDUCATION- 2012 EDUCATION & MENTORSHIP PROJECT, ReNOVATE will seize this opportune moment to influence the lives of hundreds of young people living in rural Nigeria by providing them with the knowledge of the stark realities of the job market, presenting the opportunities and challenges and encouraging them to be strategic in choosing their future path. We will mentor the youth so that they will not become a part of statistics, but instead can dare to imagine, plan and prepare for success. We want to change the course of Nigeria starting with the village of Edunabon.
Objectives
- ENTREPRENEURAL INITIATIVE:
To raise up young entrepreneurs by unlocking the entrepreneurial potential as a strategy against unemployment and under-employment.
- CAREER PROSPECT RE-ORIENTIATION:
To help the youth develop a better career decision making process and rationale by helping them gain knowledge on the current realities, challenges and opportunities of the economy and the various fields of employment in the job market.
- EXPOSURE TO CAREER POSSIBILITIES:
To present the range of career options available to the youth in order to help expand their career goals beyond the “norms” and current “societal biases”
Target Audience
This project will target the approximately 200 high school students of the Anglican High School, and the C.A.C. Grammar School- the two high schools in the Edunabon Village, Osun State, Nigeria. In subsequent years, this project will expand to other rural regions in Osun and other states.
Process
This project took place in Edunabon at the Edunabon Town Hall and in an adjacent school complex on Saturday, August 25th, from 9AM till 1.00PM. The project was kicked off with a keynote speech by acclaimed author, politician and socio-politico economic expert, Dr. Remi Sonaiya, and continued with career counseling sessions managed by industry professionals and final year Obafemi Awolowo University students from a wide array of professional fields including medicine, finance and accounting, the legal professions, education etc, with a focus on entrepreneurship.