TFN inducts fellows, school leaders, urges them to be change agents

Teach for Nigeria (TFN), a non-governmental organisation dedicated to ending educational inequity in Nigeria, recently inducted a third cohort of school leaders and seventh cohort of university graduates and young professionals into its transformative fellowship programme.

The Fellowship is a development programme designed to equip fellows with leadership and pedagogical skills, and catalyse transformative changes in their schools and communities.

This year, the organisation received 25,000 applications, out of which 393 were selected as fellows and 88 as school leaders.
Since inception, TFN has recruited 1,140 fellows, impacting over 150,000 students across Lagos, Kaduna, Ogun, and Oyo States.

The 2023 cohort had embarked on an intensive six-week hybrid pre-service training institute, encompassing one week of virtual training, four weeks of in-person instruction, and a final week of virtual training.

The training, titled “Find your purpose, discover your leadership,” marked the commencement of the fellows’ leadership development journey.

The Chief Executive Officer, TFN, Folawe Omikunle, described the pre-service training institute as “a beacon of learning where inquisitive minds unite to explore new horizons, challenge norms, and embrace the power of knowledge.”

She also stressed the vital role that the new fellows will play as change agents, and urged them to adopt a spirit of lifelong learning.

Omikunle restated the organisation’s commitment to empowering a new generation of leaders, who will reshape the country’s educational landscape.

She added that the organisation hopes to work with 20,000 young leaders across the six geopolitical zones, with a view to impacting about one million children in the next decade.

In his keynote address, Executive Director and Co-Founder of Teach for Uganda, James Arinaitwe Kassaga, urged the 2023 fellows to venture outside their comfort zones, saying doing so is crucial to discovering their purpose, and realising their leadership potential.

Kassaga likened the fellowship experience to the refining process of gold, emphasising that it would unlock the potential of fellows and their students.

The 2023 fellows will serve as full-time teachers in underserved communities in Ogun State, and also design and implement Be-The-Change (BTC) projects, addressing educational-related challenges.