The answer isn't that simple, but it's an urgent one. Recent incidents across Nigerian boarding schools have highlighted a crisis that extends far beyond individual institutions. This conference brought together four powerful voices, each offering a piece of the solution puzzle.

The Foundation: Understanding Child Rights in Education

Keren Somina, humanitarian, mentor & coach for children and teens and a child rights advocate, opened with a sobering reality check. While the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child exists, its implementation in boarding schools remains inconsistent across Africa.

Her key insight? "Children cannot claim rights they don't know they have." Schools must move beyond policy documents to active rights education, creating feedback systems where students can speak up without fear of retaliation.

The Reality Check: When Mission Statements Fail Students

ChiDinma Nmaele-Afamn, founder of Teach With Ease, shared her personal boarding school trauma with unflinching honesty. Her message cut straight to the heart of institutional hypocrisy.

"Your school's mission statement means nothing if it doesn't show in your students' lives," she declared, sharing stories of violence normalized as discipline.

Dinma identified three non-negotiable reforms that boarding students universally demand:

• Good, sufficient food: No child should go hungry or be forced to eat inadequate meals.
• Clean, safe restrooms: Basic sanitation prevents disease and preserves dignity.
• Zero tolerance for bullying: Starting with leadership and trickling down to students.

The Action Plan: Stopping Bullying Before It Starts

Victor Haruna, educator, guidance & counsellor and anti-bullying specialist, presented stark statistics: over 70% of Nigerian students experience bullying during their school years. His organization, Vodasat Global Services Limited (VGS), has developed practical frameworks that schools can implement immediately.

His three-step emergency protocol for school leaders:

1. Establish clear reporting channels: Anonymous suggestion boxes, trusted staff liaisons, digital apps.
2. Set the tone from the top: Leadership must transparently address bullying cases.
3. Conduct regular safety audits: Include administrators, student leaders, and house masters in 72-hour review cycles.

The Deeper Solution: Introducing Compassion Economics

Perhaps the most groundbreaking presentation came from Mpumelelo Mpofu, who introduced "Compassion Economics", treating compassion as a finite resource that institutions must actively manage and replenish.

"We've created an unbroken chain of trauma spanning generations," Mpofu explained. "Yesterday's victims become today's perpetrators because they're operating from compassion bankruptcy."

His framework identifies three states:

• Compassion Leakage: Small, daily erosions of empathy.
• Compassion Drainage: Conscious harm that depletes emotional resources.
• Compassion Bankruptcy: Complete institutional failure that creates lasting trauma.

The Technology Bridge: Where Innovation Meets Compassion

Throughout the discussions, one theme emerged: technology alone cannot solve these deeply human problems, but it can provide crucial infrastructure for change.

Stvdi, the community-driven platform who were part of the supporters of this conference, represents a new approach - technology built by educators who understand that school management must serve human flourishing, not just administrative efficiency.

What Happens Next: Building the Movement

This conference was just the beginning. The real work starts in individual schools, with individual decisions by administrators, teachers, and parents who refuse to accept "that's just how things are."

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School should feel safe for every child.

Yet across Nigeria, recent headlines and quiet whispers tell us otherwise, stories of bullying, neglect, abuse, and a lack of accountability in boarding schools. This is a reality we can no longer ignore.

That's why the 2025 Safe Boarding Schools Conference is coming at just the right time, bringing together boarding school leadership, parents, policymakers, and advocates to have the hard conversations that drive real change.

This event will be held virtually on Zoom on Saturday, August 2, 2025, at 10:00 am GMT+1. This conference carries a strong message under its theme: "Building a Legacy of Change." The goal? To rethink how our boarding schools operate and build a future where safety, dignity, and care are at the heart of education.

Why This Conference Matters

From outdated discipline policies to a lack of staff training and poor enforcement of child rights, the problems are layered. But so are the solutions.

This event brings together four powerful voices who will speak and discuss across six key focus areas:

• Dinma Nmaele-Afam, founder of TeachWithEase and Host of the 2025 Safe Boarding Schools Conference, will speak on Vision, Mission and School Reforms. Her story reminds us why these matters — a survivor of school violence herself, Dinma, nearly lost her vision when flogged by a senior student. She couldn't speak up, and when justice came, she faced stigma. Today, her experience fuels her passion to protect the next generation.
• Keren Somina, a passionate Teen Coach and Mentor, will lead the conversation on Child Rights in Boarding School, breaking down what schools must do and actions to be taken to create environments where children are heard, protected, and empowered.
• Victor Haruna, founder of Vodasat Global Services Limited (VGS) and as session Moderator, will unpack the issue of Bullying and Abuse in Boarding Schools, opening space for honest reflection and dialogue.
• Mpumelelo Mpofu, a Compassion Economics Pioneer, will lead the session on Violence in Circles and Compassion in Discipline, helping school leaders think about policies, onboarding, and systems that promote transparency and care.

Supported by Stvdi & VGS

This important event is proudly supported by Stvdi, a growing platform focused on using technology to make education safer, more connected, and more effective. As a tech partner and awareness collaborator, Stvdi stands with educators and advocates across Nigeria and beyond, exploring how technology can support the reforms we desperately need.

A better boarding school system in Nigeria isn't just a dream, it's something we can build together. The 2025 Safe Boarding Schools Conference is more than a conversation; it's a first step toward action.

Whether you're a parent, teacher, administrator, policymaker, or just someone who cares, this is your moment to show up.

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Over a decade ago, we started asking questions about education technology. 

The question that started it all: Why do education platforms feel like they were designed by people who've never been in a classroom?

The answer wasn't pretty.

Most school software gets built in boardrooms by people who think they know what educators need. They add feature after feature until the platform becomes a maze. Teachers get frustrated. Students get bored. Parents get left out.

Two years ago, we took it seriously and started working on something. We decided to flip the script.

What if educators built their own platform?

Not just gave feedback. Not just beta tested. Actually built it.

So we started where the need was greatest. We spoke with teachers and school administrators in Nigeria and Uganda who manually track attendance and school fee records. We listened to educators across other parts of Africa struggling with parent communication and student learning methods that students did not enjoy, sometimes even when dealing with a basic elementary syllabus.

Then we expanded globally. Educators and students shared their challenges and ideas in their own context.

Every conversation taught us something new.

Every story shaped what we were building.

The result?

Stvdi!! This isn't your typical school management system. It's what happens when you give educators the tools and opportunity to create what they actually want.

Real-time communication that doesn't feel overwhelming. Student tracking that makes sense. Parent engagement that actually works. Learning experiences that students enjoy.

All wrapped up in a platform that feels more like connecting with friends than doing paperwork.

But here's the thing we're most proud of:

Education lifts everyone. We believe our business model should too.

Ready to see what we built together?

We're launching with a free plan for educational institutions with a student population of under 200. Why? Because we want every educator passionate about improving learning to get on board. Try it out. See if it works for your unique situation.

Don't see what you need? Tell us about it and voila!! We will make it happen. With this approach, you'll be directly impacting education for the next generation.

No sales calls. No complicated setup. Just you, your community, and the tools you asked us to build.

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