Nigeria’s traditional education system emphasises theoretical knowledge, overlooking the practical skills essential for real-world success. Success is measured by memorization, exam performance, and degree. This approach has created a glaring gap between classroom learning and the skills demanded by the modern workforce.
Ahmad Idris, the visionary CEO and co-founder of Steamledge Limited, an Edtech startup, experienced firsthand the detrimental effects of Nigeria’s education system. Despite being a bright student, he discovered a significant disparity in practical knowledge compared to his international counterparts. This realization fueled his determination to bridge this gap and revolutionize our inadequate curriculum.
Over the past five years, Ahmad has excelled in diverse roles as a Project Leader, CEO/Co-founder, Mentor and successful Entrepreneur. He spearheaded developing and successfully deploying three proprietary software products and led five notable projects delivering exceptional software and web solutions focused on bridging Nigeria’s technology education gap.
Notably, Ahmad directed the development and implementation of a Progressive Web Application (PWA) for the Project Management Dashboard Portal (PSIED) of the Kano State Government, Nigeria.
He collaborated with esteemed academics from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, to co-author and launch Steamblockly. This open-source coding environment simplifies the learning process for aspiring coders using intuitive blocks. This groundbreaking product has been recognized as an academic paper published on ResearchGate.
NITDA recently commended him for his exceptional role as the lead contributor in developing the National Digital Talent Strategy. He led the Digital Economy Employability Program, a transformative initiative hosted by the NITDA, supported by the Federal Ministry of Communication and Digital Economy and Google. With his team and efforts from the Federal Government, Ahmad aimed to achieve 95% digital literacy by 2030, empowering 50,000 young Nigerians with the tools and knowledge to thrive in the digital economy, enhancing their business acumen and revenue generation.
Through Steamledge, he has equipped over 200 interns with digital skills, and software development through the “Steamledge-global shapers internship program.
The Allon Fasaha is another remarkable project led by Ahmad. It is an online and offline mobile learning classroom to help out-of-school children in northern Nigeria close the gap in their learning journey. This project re-engages them through accelerated literacy, numeracy, and primary science education and integrates them back into the formal education system. This solution combines Arabic and Islamic education (Islamiyya) to gain access to the grassroots populations in need of this intervention. This innovation went ahead to win the Microsoft buildfor2030 in 2022.
He co-hosts “The Unshackled” podcast alongside Hassan Dantata where they share their entrepreneurial journey, challenges and realities.
There is an obvious pattern. The solutions he is interested in are geared towards transforming education, arming a future workforce with practical skills and digital literacy, driving innovation and contributing to the overall success of our nation’s economy.
While these interventions are undoubtedly impactful, developing a well-equipped workforce has just begun. Stakeholders need to support innovative and empowering minds like Ahmads’. Their endeavours are not just about transforming individual lives but also about positioning Nigeria as a global player in the digital economy.
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