Students from five Kenyan Universities have an opportunity to win Ksh 5 million at a global annual competition which will be held in Utrecht, The Netherlands during the week of 7 September 2020.
The students who are in teams that represent their respective universities will, however, have to go through two stages before finally challenging for the top prize. The universities set to lock horns for the opportunity include Moi West University, Jaramogi Oginda Odinga University, Moi University, Multimedia University, and Egerton University.
The BIC Education Challenge
The first stage of the road to accessing the global stage will be the BIC Education Challenge. BIC East Africa and the BIC Corporate Foundation signed a partnership with Enactus Kenya to launch the Education Challenge.
In the competition, the students are invited to develop projects to tackle education issues in their community. The competition, which is the first of its kind in Kenya, is tailored to be an annual event for the BIC.
Among the education issues the students are expected to tackle in their projects include; fighting school dropout, helping disadvantaged children and young people reach their potential through education, supporting girls and women’s education access, and developing solutions that improve and promote environmental consciousness in education.
The BIC East Africa Marketing Manager Paloma Lengema said that the company focused on Education as a measure to promote sustainable development and to positively transform communities.
“Working alongside our BIC Corporate Foundation, we are always looking for partners that share our passion for improving education and driving impactful change. We are proud to partner with Enactus Kenya on the BIC Education Challenge, an initiative that will help improve access to education and foster better learning conditions by promoting social entrepreneurship and innovation in education,” Lengema said.
Projects Submission
The Education Challenge launched late last year saw submissions by students from all over the country. The teams from the five Universities were selected after a thorough evaluation process. The chosen few who have been shortlisted will pitch on the 7th of February at the BIC East Africa headquarters in Kasarani.
The teams will be evaluated on the projects’ eligibility, market, and user needs, and concept. After the evaluations, only the top three teams will proceed to the national stage.
The three finalists will receive grants of Ksh 100,000, Ksh 60,000, and Ksh 40,000 respectively, which will be used to support the development of their projects.
National and Global Stage
The winning team will also receive monthly mentorship supported by the BIC East Africa team to prepare them for the 18th Enactus National Competition taking place in June 2020. The winners will then represent Kenya at the Enactus World Cup later in the year.
It is at the Enactus World Cup that the winner will be feted Ksh 5 million.