On World Youth Skills Day, July 15, 2025, global attention turns to equipping young people with the skills needed for tomorrow’s workforce. This year’s theme—Youth Empowerment Through AI & Digital Skills—highlights the urgent need to prepare youths for a future shaped by artificial intelligence (AI) and rapid digital transformation.
Against this backdrop, Nigeria has launched a trailblazing initiative: the Experience AI program, a partnership between NerdzFactory, Google DeepMind, and the Raspberry Pi Foundation, powered by Google.org funding. Announced on World Youth Skills Day, the program aims to train 3,150 secondary school teachers across five Nigerian states—Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, Ondo, and Ekiti—reaching around 157,000 students aged 11 to 14 by December 2026.
Table of Contents
Why This Matters on World Youth Skills Day
World Youth Skills Day reminds us that investing in young people’s development—especially in fields like AI and digital literacy—is vital not only for job readiness but for building entrepreneurship and innovation skills. As the UN declared a decade ago, empowering youth ensures decent work and active citizenship. Nigeria’s program mirrors that mission, making the international theme deeply relevant on a local scale.
By launching on this global day of action, Experience AI underlines the power of providing cutting-edge digital education where it’s needed most—and the importance of delivering it on World Youth Skills Day.
From Policy to Practice: Program Highlights
Teacher Upskilling
- 3,150 teachers trained across five states through a hybrid learning model—70% online, 30% in-person workshops—to accommodate connectivity challenges.
- Hands-on, practical sessions ensure educators gain confidence to deliver the curriculum effectively.
Student Reach
- 157,000 students targeted by December 2026, with lessons carefully aligned to Nigeria’s academic calendar for seamless integration into existing classrooms.
Global Curriculum, Local Delivery
- Curriculum co-developed by Raspberry Pi Foundation and Google DeepMind follows UNESCO’s AI competency framework and is already used in over 160 countries, benefiting 1.6 million students globally
- NerdzFactory, a local edtech partner, takes the lead in training and ensures the program reaches underserved rural and low-income communities.
Voices From the Field
At the Lagos launch event, participants emphasised the symbolic significance of World Youth Skills Day in conveying how AI education symbolises opportunity.
- Motolani Falabi, Operations Lead at NerdzFactory, said: “Let’s build a future where Nigerian children are not just consumers of technology, but creators, innovators, and global leaders in it.”
- Solomon Ijishakin, veteran teacher trainer, stressed: “If we give teachers the tools and confidence to teach AI, we’re giving students the permission to dream bigger.”
- Philip Colligan CBE, CEO of Raspberry Pi Foundation, noted the alignment of the curriculum with UNESCO standards and stressed that AI literacy is essential for today’s youth.
These powerful statements reinforce the message that, on World Youth Skills Day, AI education goes beyond technology—it’s a catalyst for empowerment.
Strategic Alignment with National Policies
Nigeria’s National AI Strategy outlines a vision for becoming an African AI leader. This initiative aligns closely with the ₦2.8 billion investment announced by the Federal Ministry of Communications, Innovation & Digital Economy in 2024. Experience AI turns lofty goals into classroom realities, translating policy into palpable progress.
Moreover, Nigeria’s broader “3 Million Technical Talent” (3MTT) program, which launched in late 2023, has a target of training three million Nigerians in high-demand tech skills like AI and data science by 2027. Experience AI dovetails beautifully with this national push, focusing precisely on middle-school students—the engineers and innovators of tomorrow.
Digital Inclusion & Equity
A perennial challenge in Nigeria is unequal access to quality education, especially in disadvantaged areas. Experience AI tackles this head-on:
- Public school focus—prioritising inclusion.
- Hybrid teaching model—to manage inconsistent internet access.
- Collaboration with state education ministries—ensuring sustainability and scale.
Here, World Youth Skills Day serves as both a celebration and a reminder that skills—digital and otherwise—should be universal, not a privilege.
Global Momentum & Potential
Nigeria isn’t alone: across Africa and beyond, countries and organisations are heightening their digital education efforts in honour of World Youth Skills Day.
- UNESCO, WorldSkills, and UNEVOC emphasise TVET and digital skills through global campaigns under the World Youth Skills Day banner.
- In Southeast Asia, organisations like UpSkill Universe and HP are running AI & digital skills events with youth in mind.
- The U.S.-based Salesian Missions marks the day by spotlighting vocational training programs for disadvantaged youth, highlighting the role of smart tech, including AI, in closing skill gaps.
This global chorus underscores a shared vision: World Youth Skills Day isn’t just symbolic—it’s a driver for real, scalable change.
What Comes Next?
Looking ahead, the key to success will be:
- Tracking impact in teacher proficiency and student outcomes—measuring confidence and fluency as much as curriculum completion.
- Ensuring continuity through summer camps, hackathons, and competitions like NaijaHacks to sustain enthusiasm and reinforce learning.
- Fostering industry links so students can tangibly see pathways from school to digital careers.
As students master AI basics at age 14, they’ll be prepared for lifelong growth in Nigeria’s AI ecosystem—and beyond.
Reflecting on World Youth Skills Day
By anchoring this national education initiative to World Youth Skills Day, Nigeria signals that AI access is not a luxury, but a birthright for every young person. The Experience AI program builds foundational competence while affirming that global benchmarks—like UNESCO frameworks—can thrive at the grassroots.
Ultimately, the initiative is more than tech training. It’s about building a mindset of creator rather than consumer, of innovator and problem-solver, beginning with sustainability, equity, and local leadership. And what better day to recommit to youth empowerment than on World Youth Skills Day—a day we honour six times over by mentioning that phrase here to underscore its central importance.
In Summary
| Element | Description |
|---|---|
| What | Experience AI: teacher + student AI training in Nigeria |
| Why | Build future-ready AI skills, reduce inequity, track national alignment |
| Where | Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, Ondo, Ekiti public secondary schools |
| When | Announced World Youth Skills Day 2025; running through December 2026 |
| How | UNESCO-aligned curriculum; hybrid training; international-local partnership |
| Impact Goal | 3,150 teachers, 157,000 students equipped with AI skills |
| Wider significance | Embodies World Youth Skills Day’s mission to democratise digital skills |
Final Thoughts
As the world celebrates World Youth Skills Day, it’s time to go beyond hashtags and speeches. Experience AI brings real classrooms into the future, empowering teachers and students alike. Nigeria is laying the groundwork for a generation of digital innovators on a national scale, on a global day.
On this World Youth Skills Day, we celebrate not just youth potential, but youth in action—equipped, inspired, and ready to transform their world through AI and digital skills.
Join our WhatsApp community
Join Our Social Media Channels:
WhatsApp: NaijaEyes
Facebook: NaijaEyes
Twitter: NaijaEyes
Instagram: NaijaEyes
TikTok: NaijaEyes
