Edutainment Made in Africa, for Africa
MLC VANGUARD | Created by Ubongo
Ubongo’s edutainment (educational entertainment) leverages the reach of mass media and mobile technology, the power of storytelling, and rigorous kid-centered research to create and distribute free multilingual pan-African learning to kids ages 3-14. Ubongo is already elevating learning for 24 million monthly users in 9 languages and 18 countries.
24,600,000 Lives Impacted
Ubongo is centered around bridging the digital divide in quality and access to learning for kids across Africa.1 million children at last mile will receive quality edutainment by the end of 2021 - one of Ubongo’s objectives for this year. As a part of our focus to deepen impact, engagement and inclusion, Ubongo develops scalable and sustainable approaches to reaching underserved groups. Utilizing universal design learning, we are adapting our current content and creating a new show, both focused on improving accessibility for a broad spectrum of learners.
We have made all of our content freely available (under creative commons license) to all partners and anyone who is willing and able to get our educational resources out to kids. With the support of the Human Development Innovation Fund (HDIF), we have developed a toolkits platform with shareable and downloadable files of our content. To date, partners have committed to bringing toolkits content to over 7 million children through their programs across Sub-Saharan Africa. This is a scalable and sustainable solution to bridging the digital divide and bringing edtech and learning resources to the continent’s last mile.
Research shows that our programs improve young children’s school readiness, numeracy, literacy and language skills (Borzekowski 2016 & 2018). And they boost older learners’ math, science, reading and life skills (Coffey International 2019, Watson 2020).
The Innovation
Across sub-Saharan Africa, the education systems struggle to address issues of access, quality, and equity for its 500 million kids. Outside of school, while most families have access to TV, radio, or mobile, very little educational content exists for these platforms (Burns 2020). Ubongo Edutainment (educational entertainment) brings kids fun top-quality localized learning through accessible technologies. We use a comprehensive process of human-centered design, powerful storytelling, distribution at massive scale, and rigorous impact analysis to create and deliver life-changing edutainment to millions of kids. We work directly with kids and caregivers to develop and deliver content that has a real impact on their lives. We work with TV and radio broadcasters, and other distribution partners across Africa to reach kids where they are.
About Ubongo
Ubongo is Africa's leading producer of kids' edutainment. As a non-profit social enterprise, we create fun, localised and multi-platform educational content that helps kids learn, and leverage their learning to change their lives. We reach millions of families across Africa through accessible technologies like TV, radio and mobile phones.
Implemented in
Ubongo’s innovation has been implemented in 18 countries across sub-Saharan Africa
