WHAT ELEMENTS MAKE A GREAT CLASSROOM FOR RURAL AND REFUGEE SCHOOL CHILDREN LIVING IN AFRICA?

The alternatives to furnishing rural and refugee classrooms currently include deploying a timber-based desk averaging $90 per unit. This mode of furnishing is the local government´s responsibility however due to various reasons, rural and refugee schools receive on average 20 desks for up to 200 children to share every other 3 years (as per the testimony of a head teacher in our interviews). 

Oyaro Primary School is a community-founded and aided school located in Abuk Cell, Oyaro ward, Kiru Town, Abim District in the North Eastern part of Uganda. The school has an overall enrollment of 649 learners and no classroom furniture. Join the fundraiser to give SeatPacks to Oyaro primary school children here (https://zetuafrica.org/)

Both the production and logistical costs to deploy wooden desks into rural classrooms have made the product unavailable for over 95 million school children across the continent (Tutudesk2022). On average one small tree is required to make a tree-timber desk to sit 3 school children, making this old approach environmentally expensive to cover the deficit furniture today or furnish up to 500 school children expected to join the school system in Sub-Saharan Africa alone by 2040 (World Bank 2022).

We have proposed by way of pilot into 32 primary schools for over 2000 school children the use of modified $15 school bags that have a Bamboo chair and a writing surface. This SeatPack approach guarantees a school child 4 years of sitting comfortably and writing properly. 

Locally produced at a lower financial and environmental cost in comparison to the available alternative, scaling the SeatPack to 1 million school children creates a reference model for rural and refugee schools to ensure children have furniture that suits both indoor and outdoor lessons much faster and wider than the wooden desks can. 

• Assumed cost to furnish 1 million school children with wooden desks: $90m

• Assumed cost to furnish 1 million school children with SeatPacks: $15m

  
  

The Zetu Foundation 3-step scale plan includes:

1. Running an Impact study quantifying SeatPack benefits for 10,000 children and teachers over 3 years.

2. Give 25,000 school children SeatPacks in 500 Schools by 2026 in East Africa.

3. Share blueprint standards with makers in 8 countries to roll out SeatPack value to their rural school communities.

   
   

Are you interested in partnering with a step in this strategic plan, do reach and make it happen!