Deadline: July 9, 2017
Applications are now invited for the 2017 Beyond School Community (BSC) Challenge for students and teachers. This is an initiative of the Mandela Washington Fellowship Alumni Association of Nigeria (MWFAAN), that aims to engage young people for the purpose of creating impact within their community and developing critical entrepreneurial skills. The program seeks to inspire students to improve their communities through entrepreneurial action.
The BSC Challenge provides a platform for teams of outstanding secondary school students to create community development projects that put people’s own talents and ideas at the center of improving their livelihoods. Guided by advisors and supported by their schools, the students take an entrepreneurial approach that empowers people to be a part of their own success.
With the headline question: If you could solve one problem in your community, what would it be? the BSC Challenge invites students to identify a problem within their community and propose a solution with social and economic impact. Are you a secondary school student or teacher? Do you know anyone who is? Then invite them to to be part of this.
Prizes
Five Finalists Teams will receive invitation to the Final Competition Pitch and MWFAAN/Beyond School Summit 2017 in Lagos, Nigeria and Certificate of Participation for each team.
Top three Winning Teams will receive the following:
- Cash prize of N400,000 to be shared as follows:
- N250,000 prize for the winning team
- N100,000 prize for second place team
- N50,000 prize for third place team
- Access to three months mentoring.
- Educational grant for each winning team member
- Award plaque for the Schools involved.
Teacher Prize:
- One teacher will receive a cash prize and certificate award for their outstanding achievement and commitment towards the program.
Eligibility
- Applications are open to teams and not individuals. Each team must be made up of 3 students and 1 teacher.
- Students should be currently enrolled in a secondary school in Nigeria.
- Advisors should be full-time Teaching or Non‐teaching staff of the school where students are enrolled at.
- Students should be in their SS1 and SS2 year.
- Age limit for students is 13‐18. Advisors should be above 18 years.
- Participants should be passionate about learning and engaging in community work
Judging Criteria
A panel of judges from Nigerian Breweries, Business leaders and the Mandela Washington Fellowship Alumni Association will evaluate proposals and recommend finalists based on the following criteria:
- Creativity and Innovation – Is the business model viable?
- Social Impact ‐ Does the proposal address a real social issue? Can the solution create direct and indirect impact on the community?
- Scalability – Can the solution be scaled and replicated in another environment?
- Sustainability – Does the solution consider business and environmental sustainability?
How it Works
The steps are as follows:
- Students and teachers build teams, with each team made up of 3 students between 13 and 18 years with one teacher as an Advisor.
- Teams take the YALI Learns course online or offline with the help of their teacher. If teams decide to take the course offline, a Mandela Washington Fellow or YALI Network member should facilitate this.
- Team members work together to identify a problem they want to solve and design a solution with a business model with the help of their teacher. The solution should also be addressing at least one of the SDGs.
- They submit an online application before the deadline.
- During the week of July 17, 2017, all teams will be notified of their application status via email or phone. Finalist teams will be publicly announced on our website and social media platforms on July 17, 2017.
- Five finalist teams (students and advisors) are invited to Lagos for a Pitch Competition and MWFAAN/Beyond School Summit with investors, partners, mentors and Mandela Washington Fellows.
Application Process
- Teachers should click here to register on behalf of their student teams.
- The registration portal is open for six weeks for teams to apply for the competition. During this time, teams will do the following:
- Complete their team profile and upload their photo.
- Complete the selected YALI Learns course and obtain their digital certificate
- Brainstorm ideas and complete an online application with their solution
- Wait for a submission email confirmation and the announcement of finalists.
For more information, visit Beyond School Challenge Website.
