STEM Pilot Project Launches to Tackle Educational Gaps in Arochukwu

At the Aro Day 2025, there was a launch of a STEM pilot project at Madonna Secondary School, Ugwuakuma, a New Era of Educational Excellence to ensure that no child in Arochukwu is left behind.

Presenting the students led by the Principal, Rev. Fr. Charles Ukandu PhD, one of the major financiers of STEM, Mazi Obioha Okoroafor, stated that the aim of the association is to equip the students through available technology and unlock the potential of every child in Arochukwu.

He stated that a gap exists in quality education among students completing secondary school as they could not score above 50% on a standard JS3 examination which made the association step in to find an answer in Kolibri to address the challenges faced which include limited internet connection, lack of educational resources, digital divide and unprepared workforce.

The Chairman of Arochukwu STEM Association, ASA, Mazi Nnanna Ezuma-Ngwu who installed and procured the technology added that Kolibri which is a free, offline-first digital learning platform powered by Raspberry Pi computers and made to provide access to world-class pedagogical instruction that fills learning gap and help students learn at their own pace with high quality video lessons, master foundational concepts they may have missed, practice with interactive exercises that provide immediate feedback and build strong academic foundations from JSS 1 to SS3.

Kolibri not only help students but also acts as a professional development tool for model lessons, supplementary materials to enhance classroom instruction, tools to track students’ progress and identify gaps and resources to improve their own subject matter expertise.

He emphasised that ASA builds on the foundation laid by Engr Dr Okoro Chima Okereke, the adhoc STEM Education Committee Chairman and member of the Nzuko Aro Education Committee and called on all Umu Aro to establish more centres and develop community-based maintenance, create partnerships with the government and private sector, build a regional support network and establish ongoing content updates and equipment refresh cycles.

One of the Local Organizing Committee Mazi Ike Okafor also called for sponsorship and investment as each learning centre will cost 5 million naira to equip and the target is to make sure that there is a centre in each of the 19 villages in Arochukwu.

In a demonstration, two of the students exhibited how Kolibri works and stated that the most amazing thing is that one does not need Internet connectivity to access information.

Highlight of the event was the distribution of iPads to the students who were excited about STEM.