Opportunities

Call For Applications: UNICEF StartUp Lab Education Challenge 2025 – Innovate for Out-of-School Children (US$5,000 Grant)

Written by Hamdan

Are you an innovator, social entrepreneur, or startup working on education solutions? UNICEF is calling for submissions to its StartUp Lab Education Challenge 2025, focused on designing tech-driven, inclusive models for out-of-school children in Ghana. This is your chance to build real-world solutions, secure funding, and help bring children back into learning pathways.

Despite progress, hundreds of thousands of primary-age children remain out of school in Ghana, especially in marginalized and underserved communities. UNICEF and its partners aim to change this by supporting inclusive, data-powered, and locally driven innovations that help identify, monitor, retain, and educate these children.
The challenge encourages low-cost, community-based solutions that tackle root causes such as poverty, disability, and rural isolation.

What’s on Offer / Benefits

  • US$ 5,000 prototype grant to help build and test your solution.
  • Mentorship from UNICEF experts and the Ghana Education Service (GES).
  • Opportunities to pilot and co-create your solution with UNICEF and national stakeholders.
  • Platform to influence national-level education systems and potentially scale your solution.

Who Can Apply (Eligibility)

  • Innovators, social entrepreneurs, startups, or NGOs working on education-related innovations.
  • Solutions must be inclusive, addressing children who remain out of school — including those with disabilities, girls, or children in remote areas.
  • Ideas need to be affordable, scalable and community-driven, ensuring long-term sustainability and alignment with national systems.
  • Must be based (or operate) in Ghana, to align with the Ghana Education Service’s role in the challenge.

Key Dates & Application

Tips for Applicants

  1. Use real data: Clearly show how many children in your target area are out of school, and explain how your innovation will reach and help them.
  2. Focus on inclusion: Highlight how your solution will cater to girls, children with disabilities, and those in rural or marginalized communities.
  3. Design for scale: Explain how your idea can grow or be adopted nationally. Propose a realistic model for scaling.
  4. Be cost-conscious: Low-cost tools and sustainable financing make your idea more attractive.
  5. Build partnerships: Show how you plan to work with schools, community groups, local governments, or education authorities.
  6. Prepare a strong prototype plan: Use the prototype grant to test with real users; outline a clear pilot plan.

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