Tanzania’s education and entertainment (edutainment) startup Ubongo is the winner for the ‘Next Billion.’ An EdTech prize award by The Varkey Foundation.
The Varkey Foundation was founded last year by India’s billionaire Sunny Varkey’s Varkey Foundation. The competition seeks to identify and award cutting-edge technology and innovation being used to bring education closer to people in the low income and emerging markets.
Ubongo offerings
Students on the Ubongo platform get to interact with the learning material that is not just informative, but also entertaining. That way, the learner’s attention sticks to acquiring knowledge as opposed to the conventional way of learning where the mind can easily stray off the learning materials.
The learning content has also been localized and costs are driven down fit into the typical local family budget. Ubongo has been designed to deliver informative content to improve literacy at the lowest possible cost to the readers.
The educational material is delivered to the learners through multiple channels; online, radio, and TV. The content also contains cartoons in the storytelling parts.
“We’re delighted to have won the Next Billion Prize. We’re already having an impact reaching children but this award means we can do so much more,” said Nisha Ligon, the CEO of Ubongo.
“By 2022, we plan to reach 30 million children in Africa and our ultimate goal is to reach 440 million – every child in Africa.”