What's next?

Now that the Experience has launched and we are equipping 375 young leaders across Uganda to create social enterprises in the community, this post is a bit about Educate!’s long term plans.

First, by the numbers, Educate! aims to reach 4,500 Scholars – one-tenth of all students graduating secondary school in Uganda – by 2015. This critical mass of students will be empowered to find local solutions to the greatest challenges facing their communities and drive social, economic, and political development of their country.

Second, what role does the government play? As we establish our model over the next six years we will continue to work with two branches of the government of Uganda that have already provided support: The Ministry of Education (which issued a letter of support in June 2008 for Educate!’s program) and The National Curriculum Development Center. Our goal is to incorporate the creation of a social enterprise (and supporting leadership curriculum and mentoring-based teaching method) that Educate! uses into the education system itself.

Once we’ve reached a critical mass of students and incorporated Educate!’s program into the Ugandan education system itself, then what’s next? We will then bring our model to the next country - one step at a time towards the vision of an Africa in which education provides all youth with the experience to become the next generation of socially responsible leaders.