We had the privilege of participating in the Microsoft Global Hackathon, the largest private hackathon in the world, from AHYEL Tech & Innovation Hub in Jama’are, Nigeria.
Together with an incredible team of engineers and experts from different parts of the world, we worked on a solution aimed at helping out-of-school children gain access to education and stay in school.

According to UNESCO, 18.3 million children are out of school in Nigeria. That’s more than just a statistic, it’s a reality that touches communities, families and our collective future.

The solution we proposed for this problem during the hackathon was the Street To School Guardian. It was composed of a solar powered backpack that children would carry to school and use to light up their homes when they return. The backpack also contained an NFC tag that would be used by teachers to track attendance. The teachers use an app to scan the backpack and the data would be logged to monitor pupil attendance throughout the year. You can learn more about this app here

The project was a success and was ranked 5th globally. It was an honor to host such global collaboration in Jama’are, proving that innovation has no borders when the goal is meaningful change, and this result bears testament to this.