Paxful Builds Fourth School Of Its 100 School Initiative Supporting Communities
Global peer-to-peer bitcoin
marketplace, Paxful, has announced that they will be building a fourth
school in its #BuiltwithBitcoin’s
100-school initiative which aims to bring quality education centers to emerging
countries. Located in Nigeria, the school will come fully equipped with a
state-of-the-art solar-powered and water well system.
The new school will be built in the Ankara Nandu community of Sanga Local in
Nigeria and will serve an estimated 100-120 children between the ages of three
to six years old. Home to roughly 4,000 people, the city currently has only one
school facility which is being used for both primary and secondary school
purposes.
“We chose this particular community because of the limited resources and
school infrastructure,” says Ray Youssef, CEO and co-founder of Paxful. “They
are in dire need of quality learning spaces and this school is an honest
representation of the impact Bitcoin can have on societies as a whole, and more
specifically, how it can enhance education.”
The new school will double as an adult learning space in the evenings assisting
in providing hundreds of people with a supplemental education. In response to
safety requirements associated with COVID-19, The company will also provide
Personal Protective Equipment for all teachers and students including face-masks
and hand sanitizers.
Earlier in September, the company revealed
its business expansion into Nigeria, their leading market in Africa in terms of
volume and number of users. To strengthen operations and cement a physical
presence in the country, Paxful appointed Nena Nwachukwu as Regional Manager
for Nigeria.
Supporting over 400 students at present, Paxful’s #BuiltwithBitcoin initiative
began in 2017 with partner Zam Zam Water, a humanitarian organisation devoted
to eradicating poverty by providing clean, sustainable water and access to
quality education to villages across the globe. The first two schools were
built in Rwanda and the third school was built in Mukalala Village in Machakos
County in Kenya earlier this year.
Through the 100-school plan, the company expects to bring education to nearly
15,000 young people throughout Africa while providing jobs to nearly 300
teachers. All schools, including the newest location in Nigeria, come with
water filtration systems, not just to supply the locals, but also to give them
an opportunity to sell the water to their local community at a very affordable
price.
All the schools are also equipped with solar panels to cut spends on
electricity and bypass regular electricity cuts. Paxful covers all fees
associated with running a school including teacher and support staff salaries,
bills for electricity and water as well as school supplies and uniforms for the
students.
All the completed schools under the #BuiltwithBitcoin initiative are
progressing and performing very well as the company remains committed in
providing the necessary tools and opportunity for the students to succeed.
Continuous upgrades are made, and maintenance of the schools are monitored.
The passing rates within these schools have been higher as the confidence of
the students are boosted with each child receiving their own textbooks in
addition to basic school stationery supplies. Usually students share handbooks
and textbooks and leave them at the school for use by other students.
As the communities always have more students than what the schools’ capacity
can cater for, the initiative adopted a two-tier class approach, by having all
the schools provide classes in four-hour blocks in the mornings and in the
afternoons. This helps to support the highest number of students possible and
not allow the quality of education to be affected. Desk space has also been
limited to two to three students per bench to facilitate a healthy teaching
environment.
Understanding the important role, they play in the success of the schools and
learning journeys of the students, teachers and educators at these schools are
also paid 15% above the national average of their salary, respective to their
country.
“Each one of our schools follows the curriculum of their respective ministry of
education. All textbooks, guidelines, and calendars fulfill all necessary
requirements for testing and progress. Local officials have been supportive of
the initiative’s efforts as we simply want the students to be able to succeed
and graduate onto higher education by ensuring their educational foundation is
strong and capable,” adds Youssef.
Aside from building schools, #Builtwithbitcoin has also supported a number of
other philanthropic causes in various countries including Kenya and South
Africa.
Donations are accepted on a rolling bases on https://BuiltWithBitcoin.org and will be used to aid in the completion of
the new school in Nigeria among additional #BuiltwithBitcoin initiatives
including Paxful’s Africa Fund for COVID-19. Paxful will kick off donations for
building the school in Nigeria with an initial injection of $35,000 of funds in
BTC.