Cameroon

Student-Founded Academy among the Top 50 Worldwide

Kinlo Ephriam TangiriYaounde (CMR) / Bremen (GER), October 2023 - Making education more accessible in his native country Cameroon has motivated Kinlo Ephriam Tangiri to develop a free eLearning service, the KET Academy. With this project, the student of Constructor University in Bremen made it into the top 50 of the international student competition "Chegg.org".

Kinlo grew up in northwestern Cameroon, a region ravaged by civil war and lacking basic necessities such as clean water, a secure power supply, and access to health care and education. As a result of his personal experience, he developed an exercise book with mathematics exercises for students while still at school. This initiative later developed into the KET Academy. "I firmly believe that education is the key to a better future. I want to provide kids with a similar background as mine, with the tools they need to succeed," said Kinlo, describing his motivation.

KET Academy offers guidance and support for topics such as mathematics, biology, physics, and social studies on platforms such as YouTube, WhatsApp, and Instagram. Kinlo taught himself the technical skills needed to set up the service. In the meantime, the team has grown to more than 30 members. Since 2022, Kinlo has been studying Computer Science at Constructor University, but continues to look after KET Academy.

Some 3,851 applicants from 122 countries took part in the competition, which is run by the U.S. educational technology company Chegg Inc. together with the Varkey Foundation. In the future, Kinlo aims to further develop KET Academy and build a digital resource center that trains young ambassadors on how to support their peers through digital mentoring. In addition, he would like to help reduce the high number of school dropouts, especially in the northwest of his country.