Airbus Foundation Brings Youth Devt Programme to Africa

In line with its youth development programme in Africa launched in July 2017, the Airbus Foundation and its partners, The Little Engineer and STEM METS Resources have rolled out a series of Airbus Little Engineer workshops in Nigeria and trained more than 1,000 school students across the country.

The goal of the programme is to encourage students to understand and embrace technology and ignite a passion that could grow into an exciting career in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM).

To celebrate this milestone, the partners invited distinguished guests to attend the Airbus Little Engineer A380 workshop organised for 30 students at the Methodist Girls’ High School in Lagos.

The four-hour A380 workshop saw students aged between 13-15 years focusing on identifying various aircraft parts and enhancing understanding of both the manufacturing and assembling processes of the world’s largest passenger aircraft. The students also got an opportunity to build an A380 scale model from scratch – from initial programing to understanding full take-off functionality of the aircraft.

Executive Director of the Airbus Foundation, Andrea Debbane said: “Having already trained more than 1,000 students in such a short time is a remarkable achievement and I would like to thank STEM METS Resources for their dedication and efforts. Investments in education and training are essential in building an educated and skilled workforce. The goal of the Airbus youth development program is to support the countries’ efforts in creating a sustainable pipeline of talent for Africa.”

Founder of STEM METS Resources, Jadesola Adedeji, said: “We are very proud of our partnership with the Airbus Foundation, the Airbus Little Engineer program is such a unique learning opportunity. These popular workshops are designed to channel students’ potential, encouraging them to use science, technology, and mathematics in an exciting and engaging, team work approach. It is also a great pride an achievement for me as a Nigerian. We want nothing more than for children in Nigeria to have access to innovative and alternative means of learning using and also creating an environment where STEM education will be embraced and enhanced in our society.