While world leaders are battling to come up with ideas on how to solve the education crisis during the Covid19 pandemic, a group of youth think they have found the solution.
Twelve youngsters from across the globe, aged between nine and 17, have developed a free-to-use digital access platform which allows youth everywhere to continue learning despite the shut down of schools.
The youth developed the platform through renowned disaster charity relief organisation Humanitarian Operations (Hope). The international initiative, which was launched in London on Wednesday, seeks to allow children to learn at no cost at all.
Sixteen-year-old Louie Adler, a year 11 student in London, and chairman of the youth board of directors at Hope, says he and his team decided to take matters into their own hands after the adults had failed to come up with any solutions on the education crisis.
“When the world went into lockdown, the grown ups hadn’t solved the problems that were impacting us. So we thought, why couldn’t we?” Adler told The Saturday Star.
The have found solutions to the real problems presented to working parents at their wits’ end, tired teachers trying to transition online, and uninspired students stuck at home.
“We wanted to create a chance for children all over the world to catch up on the education they have missed out.”
To date, the youth working for Hope have managed to secure the donation of an office building in central London, recruited over 2 000 graduates from top universities worldwide, partnered with world-class legal firms and the world’s largest investment banks and accountants in order to realise their dream.
Adler says he’d been planning on launching an education platform for several years.
“My dad was a helicopter pilot for Humanitarian Operations, a disaster relief charity. One day five years ago, when he was out on a rescue mission, I decided to reach out to the head trustee at the charity to tell him about my idea to bring world-class education to children across the globe.
“I believe there should be no such thing as educational inequality. I set up a youth board of directors with a few other youth who I knew would want to be involved. This has since grown into a huge organisation, with 12 child directors and over 2000 volunteers, launching a platform called hope3g.com.
“With the coronavirus pandemic causing widespread disruption to our education, this issue has become more important than ever. The main objective is to create a world where every child has access to the same world-class teaching,” says Adler.
“We have built this free-to-use, free-to-access platform which will allow children across the world to access educational content.”
Any student can access a lesson taught by a trained educator from the other side of the world. “This eradicates educational inequalities, where only some children have access to world-class education.
Because the pandemic has made face-to-face learning problematic, having large amounts of educational content on a digital platform will solve this issue.
“The best thing about hope3g. com is that it’s not just another platform. It’s interactive and fun.” So how did a bunch of youngsters achieve all of this?
Adler says: “Working from state-of-the-art offices in central London, donated by Halkin, we have teamed up with more than 2000 volunteers, university graduates and professionals, who are working hard to make sure the organisation can run smoothly.”
The world’s richest man, Amazon tycoon Jeff Bezos, is also part of the initiative. He donated server space.
Adler says starting out came with some challenges. “Testing the platform was a bit of a problem in the beginning. I can’t count the amount of times it has crashed on us.”
South African students can also join in on being part of the youth board of directors, says Adler. “We would love for children from South Africa to get involved. If they’d like to join, they should go to our website and apply there.
“We would also love people and children to get involved by uploading content onto the platform, or making a profile and taking advantage of the great educational resources that we have there.
“The hope3g.com platform is the perfect opportunity for children to work alongside their school curriculum, as their teachers will be able to upload all their lessons. They can also work outside the curriculum by accessing all sorts of educational content; from learning to baking a wedding cake by a professional from the Great South African Bake Off to learning how to pay your taxes by a local politician.”
As a student, Adler understands the importance of education. So he is delighted that the platform has finally gone live.
“It is the belief of everyone here at Hope that a good education is the most invaluable resource in the world. It is a birthright, not a privilege. Unfortunately, there are many instances where a consistent education can fail, such as the recent coronavirus pandemic which saw schools shut across the globe.”
The platform is being launched at the perfect time, when children around the world battle to keep up with curriculum. “The coronavirus pandemic has caused untold disruption to the education system and may set children back by years if unchallenged. Here at Hope, we sensed this early on, and we responded by creating something that is guaranteed to revolutionise the way in which children receive their education.”
All students looking to join the platform can visit hope3g.com