ProFuturo: Innovation for Effective and Affordable Education

Every child deserves access to books, lessons and interactive education. But in some communities, families lack the financial resources to do so. The ProFuturo project responds to this need. 

Since the start of the initiative in 2019, more than 52,000 children have participated to this project in around 30 communes in Fatick (+140 km from the capital). + 240 schools have received a case, a server, tablets and a platform to improve learning in the most vulnerable areas. 

Bernard Badji, the project manager, explains that ProFuturo is a digital education programme promoted by the Telefónica Foundation and the 'la Caixa' Foundation with the aim of reducing the educational gap in the world.   

This project ProFuturo is being carried out in West Africa thanks to World Vision Spain, with a decreasing budget as the years go by and the schools become more autonomous. 

The project involves providing schools with equipment, training teachers and students to use the platform, and providing coaches to help schools use the platform throughout the year.  

"There are several benefits. Firstly, the free books that students can access, then the interactive aspect that attracts students, and also the fact that the platform also works via a local network or intranet," explains Bernard Badji. 

The manager of the ProFuturo project for World Vision Senegal added the following advantages "the flexible nature of the platform, where teachers can upload content adapted to their programmes and contexts, especially in subjects such as history". 

In one school, a teacher said: "Since we have this equipment, I've been able to integrate all the essais for the CM2 class into the platform, and on Saturdays we practise with the students". It saves time. Normally, it takes teachers up to three days to mark the tests of the students in a class. What's more, this teacher claims to have achieved a 100% pass rate among his students every year at the departmental exams for the CM2.  

In addition to the children who were trained with the tablet, there are also 1,845 teachers who have been trained in the new technologies and have carried out activities on the platform, and 22,000 children aged between 5 and 7 for whom it was impossible or difficult to write, as access to the platform requires each child to be identified. Nevertheless, the lessons were projected to them and contributed to their learning.   

The ProFuturo project in Senegal is in transition. Originally planned to run for three years, the project has been extended as a result of the Covid crisis. Discussions have begun with the communities to find endogenous ways of financing the project. Skills transfer is also underway with the Fatick Academy Inspectorate. Another challenge will be to replace the equipment, which is expected to be outdated by next year.