The Mandela Washington Fellowship Alumni Association of Nigeria (MWFAAN) has doled out cash prizes to winners of year 2020 Beyond School Community Challenge Virtual Hackathon.

The competition was organised for secondary

school pupils across the nation with support from the U.S mission in Nigeria and themed ‘Leveraging Innovation and Technology To Promote Equitable and Quality Education’.

According to a statement signed by the Project Lead, Folajogun Akinlami, the latest edition of the competition was specifically designed to provide innovative solutions for the country during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Disclosing the aim of the project, Folajogun said, ”The Beyond School Community Challenge is a national community development and entrepreneurship program for students from ages 13 to 17, which aims to engage young people in Nigeria for the purpose of creating impact within their community and developing critical entrepreneurial skills.

”The Challenge identifies top finalists annually from the pool of applications received across Nigeria. These top finalists are then invited to pitch their entrepreneurial ideas after which the winning teams are awarded prizes in form of project and educational grants.”

She explained that the 2020 edition was a web and STEM-based hackathon on solutions to help communities survive the pandemic, with topics evolving around medicine/health and wellness, education, agriculture, women and girls’ development, entrepreneurship and sports.

The winners, who received support through funding and mentorship, were Team Dauntless (2nd runner up), Team Surge (1st runner up) and Team Artechubs (1st Position).

The statement added, ”Team Dauntless of Niger State proffered a COVID-19 solution to medicine, health and wellness through a computer application (App) that can make adequate health care accessible to all where there is no doctor.

”Team Surge of Zamfara State proffered a COVID-19 solution in education through a computer application that can make distance learning easy and accessible to all.

”Team Artechubs proffered a COVID-19 solution in education with a virtual learning space that allows students conduct science experiments interactively via their mobile phones, laptops and other devices.”

The winners received N350,000, N250,000, statement, and Certificates of Recognition for first, second, third, and fifth to tenth positions respectively.

Meanwhile, the Beyond School Community Challenge has impacted over 1000 students since its inception in 2016.

The Mandela Washington Fellowship Alumni Association of Nigeria is a body of young people who were beneficiaries of the US State Department’s Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI).