January 24, 2026
A story of youth leadership, community partnership, and real impact on International Day of Education 2026.
As the world marks International Day of Education 2026, the global theme, “The power of youth in co-creating education”, invites us to pause and ask an important question: what if young people were not just the recipients of education reform, but active partners in shaping it?
At SEED Care & Support Foundation, this question is not theoretical. It sits at the heart of how we think about education equity, leadership, and systems change. For us, education transformation does not happen to young people, it happens with them.
This isn’t just a theme for a day, it’s a lived practice we champion at SEED, because young people are not just the future of education, they are its active designers and implementers.
A recent partnership with the inspiring students of The EmpowerEd Movement at Temple College brought this belief to life in a powerful way. This story from Lagos shows what this theme looks like in real life; when young people don’t just learn about inequity, but step into solving it.
Beyond Charity: Youth as Co-Creators
Since 2016, SEED has worked to strengthen Nigeria’s affordable non-state education sector, supporting schools that serve children from low-income communities across Lagos State. Over the years, we have learned that while resources matter, relationships and agency matter just as much.
Too often, young people are invited into education conversations as beneficiaries, volunteers, or symbolic voices. Rarely are they trusted as co-designers and implementers of solutions.
The EmpowerEd Movement challenged that norm.
In late 2024, the student-led team from Temple College approached SEED with a clear intention: to apply their learning beyond the classroom and make a tangible contribution to education equity to advance Sustainable Development Goal 4 (Quality Education). Guided by the overarching goal of SDG4, quality education for all , we were intentional about pairing youth energy with community need.
Together, we identified Sadec Schools in Kosofe Local Government Area as a partner school and began a journey rooted in listening, collaboration, and shared ownership.
“We wanted to go beyond theory. We wanted to understand inequality firsthand, engage with it deeply, and take action that mattered, not for others, but with them.”
Ikechukwu Obike – Team Member, EmpowerEd Movement.
SEED’s Role: Building the Bridge
At SEED, our role was not to lead the project, but to build the bridge.
We connected youth leadership from an elite private school with the lived realities of an affordable non-state school.
This is what ecosystem-building looks like in practice:
- Aligning student passion with community needs
- Translating classroom learning into social impact
- Creating dignity-driven partnerships across socio-economic lines
By facilitating trust, context, and collaboration, we ensured that this project was not symbolic but deeply responsive and effective: aligning schools, young people and communities in ways that strengthen the education system as a whole.
Fusion Fest: Student Leadership in Action
The partnership began with Fusion Fest, Temple College’s annual student-led event which held on 5th November 2024. The event was anchored around Anti-Bullying Week, sparking conversations about inclusion, safety, and how learning environments shape student outcomes.
During the programme, SEED’s Executive Director, Mrs. Olanrewaju Oniyitan, shared about the organisation’s work and affordable non-state schools. She spoke with students about education equity and the responsibility that comes with opportunity.
Driven entirely by student leadership, the team went on and raised a record ₦1,500,000 (about $1,000), to execute their project, demonstrating what is possible when youth are trusted to lead with purpose. The team set a new benchmark for youth-led fundraising at the school.
Listening First: Learning from Sadec Schools
True co-creation begins with proximity.
The EmpowerEd team visited Sadec Schools in Oworonshoki, not for a ceremonial tour, but for deep engagement. They interacted with students and teachers, observed classroom realities, and listened carefully to the challenges facing the school community.
This immersion shaped every subsequent intervention ensuring relevance, respect, and the interventions responded to real needs rather than assumptions.
One highlight was the Gender Equality Summit held on February 7, 2025, where five students from Sadec Schools were sponsored to participate in conversations on leadership, confidence, and opportunity. For many, it was their first exposure to such a platform, a moment that expanded their sense of possibility.
Project-Based Learning Meets Real-World Impact
On 14th February 2025, SEED and representatives of Sadec Schools attended the PBL Symposium organised by Temple College where all the Project-Based Learning groups presented their projects to a panel of judges and the audience. The theme of the symposium was “Empowering Innovation, Harnessing Resources and Building Peaceful Communities for a Sustainable Future” and the teams addressing SDG 1, 2, 4, 5, 7 and 16 presented their groundbreaking ideas with passion and creativity.
The EmpowerEd Movement team (SDG 4) presented their work across four key pillars:
- Literacy improvement
- Resource provision
- Community engagement
- Partnership building
Through storytelling and data, they demonstrated how book drives, tutoring workshops, and targeted support addressed gaps in access and quality. Their work stood out among peer teams and highlighted the power of project-based learning when anchored in real communities.
Their clarity of thought and practical execution earned them well-deserved recognition for their contribution to SDG 4, leading to the team emerging as the Winner by Judges Decision.
Impact at a Glance
The EmpowerEd Movement team later on in the year executed their project plan with Sadec Schools.
Beyond the gender event sponsorship, literacy activities and tutoring delivered, this youth-led partnership achieved:
₦1.5 million
raised through student-driven fundraising
200
notebooks provided to support learning
3
academic scholarships awarded (₦153,000 each)*
* Note: The academic scholarships were awarded to the following students based on exceptional performance: Oladimeji Tomilayo (JSS 3); Akinnugba Tobiloba (SSS 1) and Adisat Aminat (SSS 2).
Why This Matters
According to UNESCO’s 2026 GEM Youth Report, while youth are often consulted, their input rarely influences decision-making: a gap that global education systems must urgently address.
This collaboration shows how this can play out on the ground, with youth not just asked for their views, but trusted to help design and deliver solutions that matter. It demonstrates what becomes possible when young people are treated as partners, schools are treated as experts in their own context, and education equity is approached as a shared responsibility.
“What stood out for us was not just what the students achieved, but how they approached the work with humility, curiosity, and genuine commitment. This is the kind of leadership our education system needs to unlock meaningful equity, one that is grounded in empathy, collaboration, and shared ownership.”
Olanrewaju Oniyitan – Executive Director, SEED Care & Support Foundation
Looking Ahead
As we reflect on International Day of Education, this partnership offers a hopeful reminder: the future of learning will not be built by institutions alone. It will be co-created by young people willing to act, schools willing to collaborate, and organisations willing to build bridges across divides.
At SEED Care & Support Foundation, we remain committed to nurturing these kinds of partnerships, where education equity is not a slogan, but a shared practice.
Together, we are not just supporting schools.
We are reimagining what is possible when youth help shape the system itself.
Get Involved
- Are you a school interested in youth-led partnerships?
- A student group ready to turn learning into impact?
- An organisation or donor seeking scalable education equity models?
PARTNER with SEED Care & Support Foundation today!