Education
Preparing Your Child for Study Abroad
By FBNQuest
Parenting is a full-time job no one prepares you for. First off, you are putting someone’s life, cares and burdens over yours consistently for the reward that takes the form of an indescribable love you feel when you look at your child.
That desperate desire to give this other human being everything that you never had and more, while always thinking about their best interests and preparing for their future. Such is the path of parenting which often leads you to make the move to prepare them for a study abroad in the first place.
Education is an investment that provides a firm foundation for the future and the better the quality of education, the higher the chances are of securing an enriching or fulfilling future, which is what you are probably looking to afford for your child or ward.
Although, affording quality education for your child is easier said than done, especially if you are considering education in a foreign country. But it does get easier with the right plan and preparation ahead of time, so you don’t have to worry about the next move to make for their progress. How exactly should you prepare to give your child this quality education abroad? Below are a few helpful tips for every parent preparing their child for education abroad.
Create a Checklist
Firstly, you will need to make a list of every requirement for your child’s education abroad. From information about the school and region you are considering to requirements for the study and immigration, you would need to take everything into consideration before your child leaves and tick the boxes once each task is completed. This will help you keep track of your progress and serve as a record of your activities, so you would not miss anything important. This list should include timelines, deadlines, cost implications, long and short term steps.
Review the Region, School and Course of Study
The next step is to work with your child to determine what their plans and aspirations are and guide them through choosing courses as you prepare them mentally for the journey. Also, work with them to choose schools that offer courses related to their shared plans.
Please note that Ivy league schools for example are not in the same financial category as state universities. These are factors that you should consider as a parent or guardian when you are making school choices with your child/ward.
Make Emotional and Physical Preparations
Once you decide to send your child abroad to study, you need to prepare them emotionally and physically. Prepare them to be independent, to be able to be away from home, to be able to make spur of the moment decisions without consulting you.
Also, teach them how to be financially independent. They need to know how to budget, plan and spend without you looking over their shoulders. Prepare them emotionally to be goal-oriented and remember where they find themselves, there is a goal and their eyes should always be on the ball.
Register for External Examinations
A couple of external examinations are a prerequisite for admissions in most Western countries. These exams differ by country sometimes and by the school too.
There is the International English Language Testing System (IELTS), Test Of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), Test de Connaissance du Français (TCF) and Test d’Evaluation (TEF) for Francophone countries, International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE) for the United Kingdom, American College Test (ACT) and Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT) for the United States of America, Deutsche Sprachprüfung für den Hochschulzugang (DSH) and German as a Foreign Language (TestDaF) for Germany just to mention a few. Ensure your child is prepared for these exams and that their results meet the criteria provided by the alternatives you have both decided on.
Get the Required Documentation
There is an extensive list of documents that cannot be obtained overnight.
- A passport is extremely important because it is needed for them to even leave the shores of your home country.
- A Student Visa allows your student to live abroad for a specified period. Each country has a different application process. You can visit the school’s website for the embassy or consulate of the country they are travelling to. They should provide you with all the necessary details you need for the visa application process.
- International Certificate of Vaccinations should also be considered especially in light of the COVID-19 Vaccine which is now a travel prerequisite. As you prepare these documents, do not forget to make copies before your child leaves.
Schedule a Health Check
Schedule doctor visits before your child leaves. Some schools and visa application processes make health and medical checks mandatory. Ensure your child is in good health and can take care of themselves or manage a health condition on their own.
In cases where the child has pre-existing medical conditions, be sure to inform the school and make accommodation choices based on proximity to clinics and or weather information and convenience. Ensure to also get a health insurance cover that will step in if they need it.
Make Funding Arrangements
Securing citizenships, visas, enabling environments via vacations are fantastic and being proactive. However, it would be prudent for you to start planning financially even before the child is born.
Proactive planning will help you save money, take away the pressure, prepare you and your child for the future and generate dividends for the present. You can consider the products offered by FBNQuest that support children’s education such as the FBN Children Education Trust and the FBN Education Endowment Plan.
Here are a few ideas to help you build up funds for your child’s education abroad.
- FBN Education Endowment Fund – The FBN Education Endowment Plan is a goal-based investment management solution specifically created to help parents/guardians save for their children’s education and ensure continuity of their education by providing added benefits such as Insurance and Trust. The good thing about this plan is that it is time-based. It can span for as long as 5-10 years and as short as 6 months. It allows for flexible contribution plans so you finance hassle-free. It also assures that all education needs will be met.
- Liquidity Management – Stacking up shares and stocks and liquidating when you need physical cash is another means of planning for the beautiful future that you want for your child. However, there is a need to work with a portfolio manager who can advise you on what stocks and shares to buy, when to buy and then to sell to grow the education funds for your child’s study abroad. FBNQuest offers excellent liquidity management solutions.
- Mutual Funds – Mutual funds as an investment plan provides you with access to investment markets by pooling your money with the money of several other individuals with similar investment goals. This allows you to diversify your investments and assists with minimising the potential risks typically associated with investing.
It’s flexible and allows you time to be consistent at depositing or to just put in what you intend to multiply for future use. FBNQuest offers a wide range of mutual funds to invest in, including; FBN Money Market Fund, FBN Bond Fund, FBN Balanced Fund, FBN Eurobond Fund, FBN Smart Beta Equity Fund and FBN Halal Fund.
- FBN Children Education Trust – An educational trust specifies that trust funds are to be used for education. In the trust document, the grantor names a trustee and beneficiaries, and also specifically states your true intention and goals and details on how the trust money is to be used. You can create an education trust fund for your child and the Fund shall be locked up for an initial minimum period of 2 years before withdrawals can be made.
Conclusively, education on its own is an investment and giving your child the best is an investment into the future and this comes with a price. However, preparing and planning with a holistic strategy makes your child’s experience whole and hassle-free.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
An organisation known as Jesin Games on Monday, April 7, 2025, launched a new educational game, AfriTrivia, in Lagos.
The trivial game was designed to promote facts about the African continent, improve awareness about Africa, even among Africans themselves, and to better connect the African Diaspora from all over the world to their continent of origin, according to the chairman advisory board of Jesin Games, Professor Soji Adelaja.
It was stated that AfriTrivia would amuse and challenge everyone with a host of intriguing questions for beginners and experts.
The game will also be launched in Marrakech at the African Heritage Concert and Award Ceremony this weekend, while that of United States launch will come up in few weeks to come.
“Many Africans know little or nothing about the rest of their continent, and many people in the diaspora have little opportunity to learn what they lack about their continent because they are left relying on books written by historians or other means of learning not presented by Africans,” Mr Adelaja stated.
He described AfriTrivia as more than just a trivia game but an educational tool that can be used to “discover all the cultural and historical diversity in Africa through different topics.”
The chief executive of Jesin Games, Mr John Esin, on his part, said, “AfriTrivia is a game that challenges you to test your knowledge on some of the most interesting categories like Quotations, History, Sports and Entertainment, Arts and Culture, Government and Politics, and People and Places about some of the historical sites such as the Rock-Hewn Churches of Lalibela, to The Great Pyramids of Giza.
“It is meant for families to play together, friends to play with each other, and classrooms to become “creative centres of learning about our world.”
A former Governor of Cross Rivers State, Mr Donald Duke, while speaking at the unveiling of the product, praised the organisation for the initiative.
“AfriTrivia Jesin Games will fill the void of lack of knowledge about the African continent,” the former presidential candidate remarked, urging the developer to make it available for schools in Nigeria so that they can know more about Africa.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
Nigerian students interested in getting funds for their tertiary education can now apply for the scholarship programme of MTN Foundation.
In the past 15 years, MTN Foundation has awarded 14,728 scholarships worth over N3 billion to students as part of its ongoing investment in education.
The scholars have been given platforms to acquire relevant skills and practical knowledge to thrive in today’s evolving job market.
This gesture has been done by the organisation to encourage excellence in academic pursuit, deepen diversity and inclusion by empowering blind students in Nigeria.
The main objective is to strengthen the development of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) in the country.
The scholarship is in three categories, the Science and Technology Scholarship (MTN STS), which is for all 300-level Science and Technology students with a minimum Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) of 3.5 (Second Class Upper or its equivalent); the MTN Scholarship for Blind Students (MTN SBS), which caters to the educational needs of blind students in 200-level with a minimum CGPA of 2.5 or its equivalent; and the Top 10 UTME scholarship for top 10 scoring candidates of the UTME, as announced by JAMB.
The application process is straightforward and conducted online, making it accessible for students nationwide. Eligible candidates are encouraged to visit mtn.ng/scholarships/ and apply before the application deadline on April 25, 2025.
Awardees are given N300,000 annually for three years until graduation, provided they maintain the minimum grade point requirement.
“Education is the backbone of national development, and at MTN Foundation, we are committed to ensuring that no bright mind is left behind due to financial constraints.
“This scholarship is not just about funding education; it is about investing in Nigeria’s future leaders, innovators, and problem-solvers,” an Executive Director of the MTN Foundation, Odunayo Sanya, stated.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Berkeley-based startup, SigIQ.ai, has emerged from 18 months of stealth with $9.5 million in funding to transform education through personalized AI tutoring that delivers elite-level instruction at affordable cost.
SigIQ.ai’s AI tutor came into consciousness when it took India’s UPSC civil service exam last June and achieved the highest score in the exam’s history, beating 1.3 million human candidates in under 7 minutes.
The seed round was co-led by House Fund and GSV Ventures, with participation from Duolingo, General Catalyst India (Venture Highway), Peak XV Partners (formerly Sequoia India), Calibrate Ventures and angel investors, such as Mr Andy Konwinski (Co-founder, Perplexity), Mr Christian Storm (Co-founder & CTO, Turnitin), Prof. Trevor Darrell (Berkeley AI Research, UC Berkeley), Prof. Jitendra Malik (Berkeley AI Research, UC Berkeley), Prof. Srini Devadas (MIT), Prof. Sharad Malik (Princeton) and others.
According to a statement shared with Business Post, the investment will accelerate hiring top talent, enhancing AI models, and scaling platforms to educational systems worldwide.
SigIQ.ai’s technology directly addresses “Bloom’s Two-Sigma Problem” – the research finding that students receiving one-on-one tutoring perform two standard deviations better than those in traditional classrooms.
According to the company, this educational disparity has persisted for decades, with personalized tutoring remaining a luxury reserved for the privileged few. The company’s revolutionary approach shifts the cost of personalization from human labor to AI computation, making world-class instruction accessible at unprecedented scale.
“We’re at a pivotal moment in education where modern GenAI can provide a personal 1:1 tutor to every student and reduce the cost of one-on-one learning from hundreds of dollars an hour to the cost of computation,” said Dr Karttikeya Mangalam, CEO and co-founder of SigIQ.ai noted.
“We’ve started by first creating a tutor that itself can ace the very exam students are preparing for. This is a necessary step to ensure accuracy and quality in teaching delivered. And will set a new benchmark in personalized education, making the highest-quality education accessible to everyone, regardless of geography or socioeconomic status, at a fraction of the traditional cost,” he added.
The company was founded in July 2023 by Dr Karttikeya Mangalam and Professor Kurt Keutzer, a distinguished Professor in the Berkeley AI Research (BAIR) Lab.
Growing up in Muzaffarpur, Bihar – a region where educational opportunities are limited – Dr Mangalam experienced firsthand the stark divide between small-town India and elite Western academic institutions. After completing his education at IIT Kanpur and then at UC Berkeley, he founded SigIQ.ai to democratize access to world-class education globally.
In just 18 months, SigIQ.ai has launched two products with remarkable traction. PadhAI, focused on UPSC exam preparation in India, has attracted over 200,000 learners in just six months. On June 16, 2024, moments after the actual 2-hour UPSC Prelims exam had finished, PadhAI’s AI tutor solved the entire paper in a live demonstration in under 7 minutes at The Leela in Delhi. It achieved a score of 175/200 – not just the highest score in 2024, but the highest score ever achieved in UPSC prelims history, far exceeding the typical qualifying score of 100/200. This historic achievement was covered by over 70 news outlets across India, including The Hindu and The Times of India.
The company’s newer offering, EverTutor.ai, designed for GRE preparation in the US market, has already gained more than 10,000 users since launching three months ago.
“SigIQ.ai isn’t just a regular EdTech startup — they’ve built an AI system that publicly demonstrated its ability to outperform both humans and leading commercial AI models on one of the world’s most challenging exams. This redefines what’s possible in personalized education,” said Mr Jeremy Fiance, Managing Director of The House Fund.
The company said SigIQ.ai is different from other educational AI tools in its approach to personalization. Unlike basic conversational AI that offers scripted or limited interactivity, SigIQ’s systems are highly interactive, responsive to follow-up questions, and capable of personalized instruction and feedback – not just chat.
Sharing some results, it said the technology replicates the behavior of a real tutor. Students using the platform report a 30-40 per cent increase in effective study hours while improving performance by 18 per cent in the first month, with over 75% feeling more confident tackling difficult topics within just three weeks.
Looking ahead, SigIQ.ai plans to expand its reach with EverTutor, supporting more GRE takers in the upcoming spring and fall and beyond standardized tests, SigIQ.ai envisions a future where their technology transforms education broadly, creating a new era where high-quality learning isn’t limited by geography, language, or economic status.
-
Feature/OPED5 years agoDavos was Different this year
-
Travel/Tourism9 years ago
Lagos Seals Western Lodge Hotel In Ikorodu
-
Showbiz2 years agoEstranged Lover Releases Videos of Empress Njamah Bathing
-
Banking7 years agoSort Codes of GTBank Branches in Nigeria
-
Economy2 years agoSubsidy Removal: CNG at N130 Per Litre Cheaper Than Petrol—IPMAN
-
Banking2 years agoFirst Bank Announces Planned Downtime
-
Sports2 years agoHighest Paid Nigerian Footballer – How Much Do Nigerian Footballers Earn
-
Technology4 years agoHow To Link Your MTN, Airtel, Glo, 9mobile Lines to NIN