Akad Education Group - Africa

As at December 2011, Kenya and the East African region will soon receive results of 750,000 KCPE (primary) and 500,000 KCSE (High School) national examination student results for the year 2011.

Top scoring students are often captured by the media, and when asked what career path they wish to pursue, often respond with the usual: Pilot, Doctor, Engineer… Sadly this is based on lack of effective career advising, counseling and mentorship within our current educational system, resulting in career choices based on peer pressure, parental pressure, media exposure or pure guess-work. Akad Africa Ltd. offers Careers, Mentorship and Value Based Leadership training through speaking at schools, seminars and Educational tours. We challenge students understand themselves; – their gifts, abilities, passion and opportunities - and how to best leverage these in career choices, developing lifeskills for future success. We collaborate with organisations that seek student’s long term success – with special emphasis on brilliant but economically disadvantaged students.

We are also passionate about providing real tools for these students to obtain scholarships, both locally and abroad – specifically to the Ivy League Universities of the United States of America; Harvard, Brown, Yale, Columbia, Princeton and University of Pennsylvania (UPenn). This is through our organized Educational Tours to these institutions through which the students meet admissions officers, tour the campuses and have a real feel of what it is like to be in these universities. This is augmented with pre and post travel strategic support.

Our human resources are Professor K. Tirima and Mr. Teddy Warria. Mr. Warria has assisted over 100 students obtain admission into top US universities over the last 10 years – such as Mr. Eston Kimani, CEO, Africa talking Ltd who in 2001 obtained a full scholarship to MIT at US$ 50,000 per year = $ 200,000 in 4 years. Beneficiaries have proceeded to successful careers with world class organisations such as Goldman Sachs; another received US$ 500,000 from President Bill Clinton to re-invest back in rural Kenya in the Lwala community. Through Mr. Warria, Professor Tirima and Dr. Weche, the educational tours add further value by exposure to Wall Street, NYSE, Times Square, United Nations Headquarters, and the White House. The tours also include 2nd tier universities; Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), John Hopkins University and the University of Massachusetts, Boston.

Anticipated Results

The initial Tom Mboya Airlifts took 800 East African students, mostly Kenyans, to the United States between 1959 – 1963. On returning home, these became the founding leaders of their countries; cabinet ministers, over half of Kenya’s parliamentarians, high level civil servants, professors, deans, doctors – including the late Nobel Laureate, Professor Wangari Maathai. All these were economically disadvantaged, and traveled overseas based on donors raising money overseas, and universities offering scholarships.

We seek to follow the above by requesting Corporate sponsorship of select students that excel in the forthcoming examinations – giving them a vision for further success through a 2 week visit to these top institutions.  We believe this is critical in molding the future leadership of Kenya, and are happy to challenge them with our own leaders such as Mugo Kibati, Director General, Vision 2030 who attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). As these students return back to their schools and communities, they will in turn challenge their peers, school-mates and community to rise higher. Indeed, this how the Tiger Nations of the East – Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan – rose up as they put into practice real skills obtained in top educational institutions overseas.

We humbly seek to tap into our youth’s ideas while they are YOUNG, replicating the Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Michael Dell and Mark Zukerberg’s youthful entrepreneurial opportunities that have literally changed this world. Our tour exposure will strategically equip them to think outside the box, and competitively seek scholarships in these and other institutions from a point of real experience and knowledge, not blind faith. This is especially because most of our brilliant students are from economically disadvantaged backgrounds and cannot even begin to conceptualize what is required to be admitted into the Ivy Leagues and obtain scholarships. For “where there is no vision, the people perish”.   

The cost per sponsored student is USD 5,000 each.

We welcome cash sponsorship at  25% 50%, 75% and 100% for one or more students.

Sponsorship may also be in kind, such as donating air tickets in part or whole.

Full sponsorship allows us to provide the following add-on services;

1.    Pre-departure preparation;
       a.    Obtaining a passport (where the student does not have one)
       b.    US Embassy visa preparation
       c.    US Embassy fees & consular assistance
       d.    Pre-departure seminar at Makini College / Inoorero University
       e.    Orientation: appropriate clothing (e.g. Winter thermal wear, gloves, scarves, cap)
        f.    Professor Tirima training on vision casting, aptitudes, personality typing (MBTI) & critical thinking
       g.    Yellow Fever vaccination prior to travel

2.    Return Air fare; from African airport to Boston,  USA

3.    Airport transfers in Nairobi / Boston / Washington DC

4.    Food and Accommodation in the United States of America

5.    Transportation within the United States of America

6.    Token shopping, including digital camera to capture photos of the travel

7.    Post return Cocktail to be arranged at the US Ambassador’s pleasure