Alison CEO Mike Feerick travels for the first time to Nigeria this week between November 23 and 26 in Lagos and Abuja to meet Alison Graduates and to learn about one of the world’s fastest growing education markets.
With 300,000 learners and many tens of thousands of graduates, Nigeria is an increasingly important market for Alison – and one where Alison’s free learning model holds enormous promise to bridge the huge and steep education and skills divide.
Founded in 2007 and widely considered the world’s first MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) provider, Alison’s successful free learning model is one which holds enormous promise for Nigeria’s burgeoning educational need, not least among its extraordinary youthful population.
Speaking before his visit, Mr Feerick said that “visiting Nigeria is something I have wanted to do for the longest time, and I am hugely excited by the upcoming visit.
My excitement stems from the fact that I believe the Alison free learning model can be hugely impactful in Nigeria, where there is a huge demand and thirst for education and skills development, yet, because of the huge scale of the population, there is simply no way that the old ways of teaching and training can help all those who need to learn.
If Nigeria is serious about making available educational and skills training opportunities to all its people, then the opportunity of a platform like Alison must be embraced”.
While in Nigeria, Mr Feerick will meet a select number of Alison Graduates, both to learn from them and to record their inspirational stories.
Natasha Mee, a market researcher based in Ireland at Alison HQ, but originally from South Africa, added “Mike is a world traveller, and wherever he goes, he meets Alison graduates, to learn, to encourage, to publicise. When we invited our Nigerian graduates to meet Mike, we were overwhelmed and awed by the response, as nearly 1,000 of our graduates sent in applications – and they are still rising in number!
These people tell their stories about how Alison empowered them to new opportunity in life, to getting new jobs, promotions, college placements, and almost always, gaining confidence through learning achievement”.
While in Nigeria, Mr Feerick will welcome opportunities to speak to local media who are interested in understanding more about the extent of Nigeria’s educational challenge, and how Alison can answer that call
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