Edu-Sp tlight Newsletter
Q3 2026
News, stories and impact from the EduSpots network
EduSpots Selected for the FIFA Global Citizen Education Fund EduSpots has been selected as one of just 31 organisations worldwide to join the FIFA and Global Citizen Education Fund. The grant of $50,000 will support 100 community educators through residential leadership academies, engage 10,000 learners in community-led clubs, and help all 70 Spots launch community sports clubs (football, basketball, volleyball and table tennis) with mentoring.
BY THE NUMBERS
70
621
Community learning hubs across Ghana and Kenya
local volunteers (Catalysts), signed up to lead change
3,679 Learners registered on the EduSpots App
GHS 105,244 Raised by local teams this quarter, including donations in kind of books, tablets, cement and workmanship.
“
This partnership will help us deepen and expand our community-led education model across Ghana and beyond.” Nimatu Abdul-Rahman, Catalyst Committee Chair
The selection adds to a landmark year that has also seen EduSpots win the “Small Charity, Big Achiever” Award at the UK Third Sector Awards 2026 (the first UK charity award we have applied for) and join the Mastercard Foundation EdTech Fellowship.
INSIDE Digital Champions
2
The App
3
Spark of the Quarter
4
Education Academy
5
Spotlight on Teshie and Government Partnership 6 Future Fund
7
Thank you
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Charity No. 1166734 · www.eduspots.org
EDUSPOTLIGHT NEWSLETTER | Q3 2026
D I G I TA L C H A M P I O N S
Digital Champions Building a Network of Digital Leaders Across Ghana
59
9
month programme
community leaders to be certified
2
residential academies, plus monthly EduBytes modules
In August, EduSpots launched its first Digital Champions Programme, a nine-month initiative to train and certify 59 community leaders as Digital Champions, equipping them to lead digital learning within their communities and feed into the development and the adoption of the EduSpots App.
Catalysts with 4/5 or higher confidence in digital skills Strongest five results, % of Catalysts. Pills show the gain in points.
The programme is a milestone in EduSpots’ participation in the Mastercard Foundation EdTech Fellowship, which supports its digital innovation work. Champions were trained through two residential academies with ongoing monthly EduBytes modules covering digital inclusion, AI for education, online safety and responsible technology use.
Word / Google Docs
48%
89%
Excel / Sheets
Editing videos
30%
70% 32%
72% 52%
Recording educational videos Creating presentations
85% 35%
65% Baseline
A CHAMPION IN ACTION
Dzidedi Yaa Maloku, a Catalyst and DigiLit Strand Lead in Ekumfi, is one of the community leaders driving this work. Through the EduBytes Generative AI and Prompt Engineering course, she learned to use AI tools to prepare lesson notes, design classroom activities and analyse learner work, skills she now uses daily.
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Charity No. 1166734 · www.eduspots.org
+41
+40
+40
+33
+30
After Academy
“When you give a clear prompt, you get the effective response you are looking for. I’ve been able to give clearer prompts so the outcomes match exactly what I need.”
SCAN TO Read Dzidedi’s full story
EDUSPOTLIGHT NEWSLETTER | Q3 2026
THE EDUSPOTS APP
The EduSpots App The EduSpots App was initially funded by the Gower Street Trust, with subsequent funding from Theirworld and the Mastercard Foundation EdTech Fellowship. Initially conceived as both a streamlined operational system supporting Spot scale-up, and a “Facebook for community educators”, it is now at the heart of how Catalysts manage their Spots. Through the App, Catalysts build profiles to document their Spot’s growth, register learners and Catalysts with background checks, log opening hours, track learner attendance and progress, manage resources and grants, and complete monthly Strand Challenges with feedback from coordinators. The Digital Champions Programme is helping drive adoption across all 52 communities with 621 Catalysts now registered on the App.
Spot profiles
Background checks
Spot dashboard
Clubs, learners, Catalysts and challenges at a glance
Opening hours
Clubs
Attendance & progress
Every club at a Spot, with its members and activity
621
3,679 Learners registered on the App
Catalysts registered on the App
Resources & grants
Monthly Challenges Strand challenges, with deadlines and submissions
Made possible by the App’s funders
Strand Challenges
Resources
Books, laptops and tablets tracked at each Spot
Mastercard Foundation EdTech Fellowship
Charity No. 1166734 · www.eduspots.org
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EDUSPOTLIGHT NEWSLETTER | Q3 2026
S PA R K O F T H E Q U A R T E R
S PA R K O F T H E Q U A R T E R
Beyonce, Banda Spot I want to become a great person in the future by becoming a medical doctor. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful. Beyonce
Ten-year-old Beyonce started at Banda Spot as a shy EduKidz Club learner who read slowly and found it hard to speak in front of others. Today, she is the DigiLit Club president and winner of the 2025 interschool reading competition in the Banda Circuit. She now helps other learners with their pronunciation and encourages them to visit the Spot in their free time.
As Catalyst Nelson put it:
“I sometimes marvel at the kinds of questions she asks.” Beyonce’s journey
Shy EduKidz Club learner
SCAN TO Read Beyonce’s full story
4
2025 reading competition winner
DigiLit Club president
Helping other learners
A future medical doctor in the making! In September 2026, 33 communities involving over 800 Sparks signed up to join EduKidz, EduSpots’ foundational learning strand.
Charity No. 1166734 · www.eduspots.org
EDUSPOTLIGHT NEWSLETTER | Q3 2026
E D U C AT I O N AC A D E M Y
Education Academy Launches in Akumadan
This Academy changed me from teachercentered to learner-centered. I now prioritize safety over shouting, use play and puppetry to teach, and make invisible problems visible through experiments. I now facilitate action where Sparks lead.
In August, EduSpots brought together community educators from across Ghana and Kenya for its first Education Academy in Akumadan, focused on inclusive and creative teaching methods. Through hands-on training, peer learning, and shared practice, Catalysts and educators developed new approaches to strengthen their teaching across the network. A particular highlight was a workshop in puppetry with Charles Macharia, as Catalysts applied their creativity to Keeping Spots Safe.
Academy participant
12 pedagogical principles
Inclusion
Play
Environmental Community care connectedness
Keeping Spots Safe
Collaboration
Creativity
Critical thinking
Digital learning
Subject mastery
Student leadership
Transformative action
100% agreed (69% strongly) that as a result of the Academy they understood EduSpots’ principles and how to apply them in their communities.
69% strongly agreed
SCAN TO
Read about the Academy
31% agreed
Charity No. 1166734 · www.eduspots.org
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EDUSPOTLIGHT NEWSLETTER | Q3 2026
SPOTLIGHT ON TESHIE
Spotlight on Teshie and Government Partnership Emmanuel Adjei Bike2MyRoots founder, and EduSpots’ Champion on visiting Teshie Community Library
IN THE WORDS OF OUR CHAMPION
The refurbished library has become a lively beacon within the Teshie community. I have witnessed the spark of hope and active participation that the library, with its DigiLit and various learning activities, has created for countless school children in and around the community.” EduSpots has partnered with the Ghana Library Authority in Teshie, to trial embedding EduSpots’ clubs, activities and volunteer approach, within the national library system.
Did you know? Spot teams raise 105,244 Cedis in Q3 in a step change in local fundraising. In the recent Fundraising Challenge, nearly twothirds of the GHS 105,244 raised came through inkind contributions (books, laptops, building materials, skilled labour, and sand and cement) donated by community members. These contributions reflect the many ways communities are investing their own resources and skills in their local Spots, driving their own sustainability.
Books
Laptops
Building materials
Skilled labour
Sand & cement
SCAN TO nearly
2/3
6
of GHS 105,244 given in kind
Charity No. 1166734 · www.eduspots.org
Read about the fundraising challenge
EDUSPOTLIGHT NEWSLETTER | Q3 2026
SUPPORT EDUSPOTS’ FUTURE
Support EduSpots’ Future EduSpots’ Future Fund aims to raise £300,000 by the end of 2027 to grow from 50 to 100 Spots across Ghana. So far, the campaign has reached 50% of its goal. Thank you to everyone who has contributed so far.
50%
£300,000
Progress to the Future Fund goal, by the end of 2027 Support 50 new community-led Spots opening across Ghana. Invest in our collective future and sustainability through donating to the Future Fund today.
Join the Possibility Circle Join the Possibility Circle, EduSpots’ monthly giving community, and be part of the long-term change. Members receive quarterly impact updates, invitations to EduChamps Talks and Possibility Circle Conversations, and more. Read the Book of Possibility to imagine what’s next.
www.eduspots.org/donate/thepossibilitycircle
Join the Circle
Book of Possibility
£20 or 300 Cedis / month enables one education club to run in the year.
What’s coming in Q4 18 new community teams 18 new community teams in Northern Ghana have joined the network, as EduSpots enters its second decade.
116 clubs signed up EduSpots Clubs relaunched in line with the Ghana Education Service Calendar, with 116 clubs signed up across the four strands
Scan to read more
CECOP Summit The CECOP Summit is planned for November, bringing participants from 15 climate education NGOs together for in-person discussions and training.
New online course EduSpots’ Online Course on Communication, Power and Agency developed with the support of the UNESCO Intercultural Leadership Programme launches for public audiences.
Charity No. 1166734 · www.eduspots.org
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Edu-Sp tlight EduSpots won the 2026 ‘Small Charity, Big Achiever’ Award at the Third Sector Awards. The judges offered this comment: “A standout entry in terms of innovation and breadth of impact delivered by such a relatively small team. The ability to demonstrate measurable behavioural change is testament to a highly focused, clear strategy that has successfully supported sustained growth.”
Thank you to everyone who made this impact possible, with particular thanks to
...and every one of you!
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