Will virtual schools actually solve the education crisis in Nigeria?
Virtual schools are not new in Nigeria especially within the tech spaces, with examples like Utiva, Product dive, Treford, Alt School etc currently leading the trail. However, most people are still dependent on the failing traditional institutions for their education.
Let’s take a look at this scenario:
You are a brilliant student who gains admission into the most prestigious university in the country to study Electrical and Electronics Engineering. As a first-class student in your first year with multiple scholarships, you’d look forward to learning exciting new things. You’d expect that it only gets better from that point. Right?
Wrong!
The Nigerian education system is a farce, as Demilade Odetara, CEO and Co-Founder of Pledre will confidently tell you. The scenario I’ve just painted is his life story, one of disappointment with the Nigerian educational system, which led him to drop out of the university, intent on changing the narrative and transforming education in Nigeria through Pledre.
Pledre, in street terms, is a redemption quest to fix a system that has failed us and limited our potential because of its inadequacies. Incorporate terms, it is a platform set up to democratize education by allowing entrepreneurs, skilled individuals, and professional bodies to set up virtual schools and turn their knowledge into earnings. In other words, Pledre is a platform that allows individuals and organizations to create virtual schools in minutes.
How does it work?
If you wanted to start an online school, you’d have to first purchase a domain name. Then you’d build a website with features tailored to educational needs. You’d have to make sure you’re capable of setting up courses, classrooms, assessments, and everything else that a real institution provides. You’d then have to pay someone to maintain and update the website on a regular basis. After that, you can start enrolling students at your own virtual school. Typically, you’d have to raise millions of dollars to set up a virtual school.
Imagine skipping the school creation stages and focusing on acquiring students and growing your brand, at just a fraction of the price. Pledre solves this for you. Anyone with the knowledge to offer can skip the costs and stress of setting up a school and just go directly to creating value.
On Pledre, a creator can set up and manage their virtual schools in any way they deem fit. The platform supports courses and learning content in a variety of formats including files, videos, lesson notes, quizzes, discussions, and live classes. The platform allows creators to have an unlimited number of students, teachers, and courses, as well as receive and handle payments. The built-in Creator Suite also enables creators to create high-quality video content without the need for expensive recording equipment.
Pledre Now
Chioma, an engineer and fashion designer, runs an online fashion design school created by Pledre. Since its launch, Pledre has onboarded thousands of creators from Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, and the United States just like Chioma.
So far, schools created using Pledre cover a wide range of knowledge bases, including but not limited to technology, culinary arts, finance, photography, creative arts, fashion, theology, programming, artificial intelligence, and machine learning. You can visit find.pledre.com to explore some of the schools.
If you have an idea for a virtual school that you believe should exist and are willing to put in the effort to get it started, apply to be a part of our virtual school incubation program using this link. You can also browse some of the schools created with Pledre at https://find.pledre.com.
Pledre’s vision.
Pledre aims to work with creators and entrepreneurs, providing the necessary infrastructure for virtual schools across all disciplines to grow.
Demilade Odetara, Co-Founder of Pledre, says,
“In 10 years’ time, we hope to see more virtual schools in existence than physical schools. And these virtual schools should be able to compete favorably against physical schools in terms of quality, quantity and prestige.”
About the Founders
Demilade Odetara is a YCombinator Alumni, and former software engineer at Carbon and Fairmoney who dropped out of the University of Ibadan to change the educational system. His experience with Nigerian tertiary education was one that left him with a strong desire to ensure that others do not have to go through the same ordeal.
Demilade serves in the capacity of the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Pledre.
Oluwanifemi Williams, also of the University of Ibadan, was the best graduating student in her department. She is a firm believer that education should be available to all without the high cost of physically attending a school.
Nifemi is passionate about products, and it shows in her role as Pledre’s Chief Operations Officer (COO).
This peculiar duo, one dropout, and one best graduating student, have teamed up to transform a system that has failed many others like them by establishing Pledre.
Side note: if you are passionate about improving education and would like to participate in our pre-seed. Send a mail to demi[at]pledre.com.
