By Ifeoma Asika, Correspondent Campuses

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 Government Area in Kaduna State, north west, 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 CEO and co-founder of Paxful, Ray Youssef. “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.

Movement to empower education in Africa

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.

Supporting ongoing development and tracking success

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 per cent 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 US$35,000 of funds in BTC.