Twim Academy

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Twim Academy: A vocational school of media & creative arts

Ibadan, NigeriaIbadan, Nigeria
Year Founded:
2013
Organization type: 
for profit
Project Stage:
Growth
Budget: 
$10,000 - $50,000
Website:
http://twimacademy.com
Twitter: 
http://twitter.com/twimacademy
Facebook: 
http://facebook.com/twimacademy
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Project Summary
Elevator Pitch

Concise Summary: Help us pitch this solution! Provide an explanation within 3-4 short sentences.

Twim Academy is a school of media and creative arts located in Ibadan, Nigeria. Courses offered include photography, video production, website design, visual effects, graphics and computer basics. By teaching vocations and entrepreneurship, Twim Academy empowers young people to become self reliant.

WHAT IF - Inspiration: Write one sentence that describes a way that your project dares to ask, "WHAT IF?"

What if every creative Nigerian could be taught how to harness, develop and turn his creativity into profit?
About Project

Problem: What problem is this project trying to address?

Unemployment is the biggest problem young Nigerians face. A fairly recent release from the country's National Bureau of Statistics put the youth unemployment figure at 54 percent. One of the strongest reasons why unemployment has persisted is the poor societal attitude towards vocational education. As such, schools churn out over a million graduates annually and many are unemployable as they do not have skills that are relevant to industries.

Solution: What is the proposed solution? Please be specific!

Vocational education is the strongest solution to the problem of unemployment. If more people have useful skills, they can easily create opportunities for themselves and solve problems for which they can be paid in return. However, since the main reason why the adoption of vocational education has been rather sluggish is the societal misconception that white-collar employees are better off than people in vocational professions, massive public re-orientation is necessary. Successful role-model figures who have "made it" through vocational skills must also be show-cased. These re-orientation initiatives are already been done through our radio broadcasts. We hope to be able to do them on a much bigger scale.
Impact: How does it Work

Example: Walk us through a specific example(s) of how this solution makes a difference; include its primary activities.

Last summer, we had "Media Summer School". It was a program aimed at equipping young people with basic to semi-advanced skills in photography, video production, web design and graphics. Most of the respondents enrolled for the program because they had heard our vocational-skill broadcasts on radio and were hopeful for a shot at a better, more fulfilling life. By the time summer was over, most of the participants had gained at least acceptable levels of mastery of the various skills. At least 25 percent of them have already started up businesses in related fields at the moment.

Impact: What is the impact of the work to date? Also describe the projected future impact for the coming years.

In one year of existence, we have been able to provide comprehensive vocational training to about 100 young people. We have also reached out to many thousands on a daily basis via radio.

Spread Strategies: Moving forward, what are the main strategies for scaling impact?

We intend to open up more Twim Academy training schools in Ibadan, Lagos, and other cities in Nigeria. There is also the plan to set up a larger, 50 acre campus which will serve as the headquarters and main degree-awarding vocational institution.
Sustainability

Financial Sustainability Plan: What is this solution’s plan to ensure financial sustainability?

All training programs are paid for by recipients or agencies who wish to sponsor them (such as churches). This ensures that we are able to meet up with our financial commitments.

Marketplace: Who else is addressing the problem outlined here? How does the proposed project differ from these approaches?

There are a number of vocational schools around. Most have been established by the government and are poorly maintained. Many of the other non-government, for profit schools merely teach vocational skills but place no emphasis on entrepreneurship. We aim to teach people not only to sharpen and develop their skills but to open their eyes to entrepreneurship opportunities and help them take advantage of them. Hence, the regular finance and empowerment seminars, mentoring and networking opportunities with industry professionals that we have included as normal components of our training programs.
Team

Founding Story

While in school as an undergraduate, I used to design for print and the web. I wanted to improve on this skill and had to travel all the way to India to do this. It was there that I understudied their vocational education models. I realized that the only way they could keep their large and diverse population happy was to encourage people to work using their skills instead of relying entirely on white collar jobs. On returning to Nigeria, I decided to replicate what I had seen in India. I then started Twim Academy.

Team

The team is made up of 3 board members, 6 full-time staff, 2 part-time staff. We also have consultants whom we hire as the needs arise. Most of our staff are graduates who also have professional experience.
About You
Organization:
Twim Infomedia Group
About You
First Name

Olumide

Last Name

Adeleye, CEH, MCTS, ITIL

About Your Project
Organization Name

Twim Infomedia Group

How long has your organization been operating?

Please select

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Project
Organization Country

, OY, Ibadan

Country where this project is creating social impact

, OY, Ibadan

What awards or honors has the project received?
Funding: How is your project financial supported?

Friends and family, Customers.

Supplemental
Awards: What awards or honors has your solution received, if any?

None

Tell us about your partnerships

Board of Technical and Vocational Education, Oyo State- This body is empowered by the Ministry of Education to oversee vocational education in Oyo State, Nigeria. As one of the most active institutions within their jurisdiction, we work along with them to bring vocational education to the unemployed in the state.

Feyisetan Press, Ibadan: We have partnered with this press for excursions (to introduce our students to the career possibilities in printing and publishing) and Industrial Attachment placements.

StarFM Ibadan: We host "Director's Angle" on StarFM, Ibadan. Director's Angle is an inspiring radio show that targets young people, seeks to empower them with financial information, and also presents information about our academy.

We have also written to (and are pursuing) partnerships with foreign institutions such as Mahatma Gandhi University in India (as Indian schools no doubt, boast of very good vocational education models).

Challenges: What challenges might hinder the success of your project and how do you plan to overcome them?

The Nigerian society, sadly, places a disproportionately higher emphasis on academic education than it does on vocational education. This is perhaps responsible for the high rate of unemployment as our schools churn out unskilled (and therefore unemployable) graduates.

For us, public re-orientation is the key. That has been one of the key reasons for embarking on our radio broadcast, "Director's Angle". We hope to do much more using social media and television.

How does your idea help young people create bright futures and improve opportunities for meaningful and long-term careers?

Most of our students are unemployed graduates. They often choose to learn the vocations we teach after being battered by the job market. And then, we equip them not only with skills taught in a conducive hands-on environment by qualified teachers, we also teach them entrepreneurship, business development and finance management and encourage them to start their own small scale business initiatives. For some, it becomes as easy as purchasing a camera and becoming an event photographer. For some others, the target is to make themselves so marketable that they begin attracting job offers. Either way, we can boast of many of our graduates who are now positively engaged in profitable ventures.

Target Age Group(s): What age group(s) do(es) your solution target through it's programming?

18-35.

Intervention Focus: Identify which of the following best explain key parts of your solution

Job Creation, Education - Extracurricular, Professional Development, Apprenticeship, Entrepreneurship, Training/Skill Development, Mentorship.

Do you have separate programs or initiatives that target the following types of populations?

Impact - Reach: How many people did your project directly engage in programmatic activities in the last year?

0 to 500

Number of People Directly Employed by Your Organization

Fewer than 10

Number of Volunteers

Fewer than 10

Does your project utilize any of the innovative design principles below? Select a theme below that most applies to your work. If none of them do, no problem, you can skip this question.

Redefine "Work: create flexible income generation opportunities or formalize jobs that have been historically considered informal or insecure

Is your project targeted at solving any of the following key barriers? Select a theme below that most applies to your work. If none of them do, no problem, you can skip this question.

Education isn't preparing young people for the evolving job market