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I am always grateful when given the opportunity to share our story. Today, KEY academy is what many would call a modern day village, with our team, partners, donors, parents, and cheerleaders all actively playing a part in our story - but it didn't start this way.
 
I moved to Lagos, Nigeria in 2013, having grown up in London in the UK. After a career in Finance spanning more than 10 years, my husband and I decided to start a family in 2016, and I took a career break. This forced me to reflect on my own childhood and life choices, and it became clear to me that my story is in many ways the stereotypical first-generation immigrant story - a relentless focus on passing exams to get to the “next level” rather than pursuing passion, all with the ultimate goal of securing a good job. On deep reflection, I knew I did not want this for my children. I wanted them to have the opportunity to develop a love for lifelong learning, pursue their passion and talent and be socially-conscious global citizens right here in Nigeria. 

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This set me on a long journey of discovery into the world of transformative education. Following years of research which exposed me to project based approaches to learning in Finland, Japan, Indonesia, the US and more, I was unable to find any schools in Lagos that offered something similar. Deflated, I came to terms with the fact that home-schooling might be the only option for my family. 

I continued to study this area and connected with individuals in the global transformative/alternative education space to learn from their experiences. During this time I co-founded a pre-school and after-school learning centre focused on helping children develop 21st century skills. The experience gave me insight into the opportunities and benefits that a school model could provide. Speaking with a number of people in Lagos who seemed to have the same challenge, I began flirting with the idea of launching an educational think-tank that could help drive educational policy reform in Nigeria, and Africa more broadly.

 

During the process of fleshing out the idea, it became clear to me that it would be almost impossible to create the kind of impact I envisioned without a model school where I could not only demonstrate the theory to other educators and policy makers, but also learn what is involved in the day-to-day running of a world-class school.

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So, after countless debates and deliberation with family, friends, mentors (and myself!) I finally launched KEY (Keep Educating Yourself) in 2018, a social enterprise focused on revolutionising education in Nigeria. Our model school, KEY academy, launched in September 2019, after a 12-week pilot term in April of the same year. We expanded the school in 2022 to add a new nursery, and in 2025 we will begin enrolling 9 to11 year olds, ahead of opening our secondary school in 2027. All of the above feed into KEY’s broader initiatives, including an edtech platform, national teacher training, and policy reform, with the ultimate goal of transforming education across all 36 states of Nigeria.

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At KEY academy, our approach to learning is play based in the early years which naturally transitions into project-based learning, with a focus on both core skills (e.g. numeracy and literacy) and higher-order skills (e.g. problem solving, critical thinking and teamwork). We currently enrol children from the age of 18 months, as we evolve to offer full primary and secondary education up to 18 years old. We are already leveraging our global network to form long lasting partnerships, and ensure we can provide the necessary bridge from KEY academy into Universities and other higher institutions across the world.

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As a fellow parent, I understand that many of you reading this might be new to the concept of transformative education and it might sound too radical or “out there”, but I encourage you to read through the rest of our website (including our thought-provoking blog) and visit our social media channels to see our learning in action.

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  The current global model of education was designed in the 1890s to address the challenges of the Industrial Revolution. Today, almost 150 years later, we have very different challenges in the form of new and emergent technology and AI changing the way we all work and live. I think we need an educational approach which helps arm our children with the skills they will need to thrive in this new world, and I look forward to partnering with you on this journey!

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