This course was designed to allow Burundian high school students  and graduates  to learn important skills to access diverse educational opportunities. This course responds to needs that were identified during the Menya Accelerator Summer Program 2021. Some of the key challenges raised by students were: 

1. The inability to navigate English applications. Many institutions use English as the language of instruction, given that it is one of the main international languages. However, many Burundian students  receive their primary and secondary education in French, which hinders their ability to navigate well these applications, and let alone send competitive applications.
2.  In addition to English, some skills crucial in the professional world are barely reinforced during their education. Proper  essay writing skills, diverse extracurricular activities, public speaking, networking are some of the skills that only Burundians from the top high schools get their secondary education.
3. The fear to compete globally is mainly due to the lack of guidance. With the increasing use of social media, Burundians have access to different platforms that publish different opportunities, but it is hard for them to start and complete applications as the application process is an unfamiliar concept to most of them.

If you have met any of these challenges, this course is designed for you. We will go through different modules addressing some of the points above and beyond. The course will include projects that will be reviewed and receive feedback. Additionally, there will be occasional guest speaker series where we discuss key points in the modules, as well as practical experience from fellow Burundians who received academic opportunities on the African continent and beyond. The materials will be in English, while the discussions  will be a mixture of Kirundi, French and English to increase accessibility to all students in Burundi. 

Module 1: Building your profile

Module 2: Opportunities search  

Module 3: Essay writing

Module 4 : School interviews

Module 5: Guide to standardized tests