Digital Skills Accelerator Program

Changemaker: Wonderful Akanbi

Country of implementation: Nigeria

The Digital Skills Accelerator Program is a transformative initiative designed to strengthen digital literacy among adolescent schoolgirls aged 13 to 18 years. Spearheaded by the Aid for Rural Education Access Initiative (AREAi), the program leverages Nigeria’s National Digital Literacy Framework (NDLF) to deliver a universally adaptable, context-specific curriculum. Learning content is delivered across 13 structured sessions over 13 weeks, ensuring consistent engagement and progressive skill development.

One of the program’s standout features is its inclusive and accessible design. AREAi is among the few organisations offering a digital literacy curriculum that has been translated into Hausa and independently validated for wider adoption in Northern Nigeria, expanding access to historically underserved populations.

At the heart of the curriculum is the Internet Skills Scale, developed by the Oxford Internet Institute and the London School of Economics. This framework underpins a learner-centred, experiential approach that ensures participants gain both foundational and functional digital competencies essential for modern learning and workforce preparedness.

Building on the success of a pilot phase that reached over 300 girls across ten schools and two communities, the program now operates through a dual-pathway model over a six-month period.  This approach combines in-school digital literacy training with exposure to STEM career pathways—empowering marginalised adolescent girls to access accurate, relevant information and equipping them to become active agents of change in the 21st century.

Through this program, AREAi is closing the digital divide and opening doors to future-ready opportunities for girls—fostering gender equity, economic inclusion, and long-term community development.