Levi Abalaka was teaching area and perimeter when the lesson met a small problem. He did not have enough markers, so he looked up at the ceiling boxes, then at the board, desks and floor tiles around his class. The shapes had been there all morning, but the shortage forced him to see them as teaching materials.
He used what the room already contained.
That classroom moment appeared in Levi’s application to the first Digital SPARKS Teacher Fellowship. It told us more than a polished statement about loving education could have told us. Levi had met a limit, looked around, tried another route and kept the lesson moving.
73 primary school teachers responded to the first application call. The admissions team selected 21.
The final cohort brings together 10 teachers from Nigeria and 11 from Rwanda. 9 are women, and 12 are men.
12 of the fellows work in rural communities, 6 in peri-urban communities and 3 in urban settings.
Their classes range from fewer than 15 pupils to more than 60, and their subjects stretch across literacy, mathematics, science, languages, social studies, religious education, creative arts and digital art.
We didn’t select one kind of teacher
The fellowship was not looking for teachers who already knew every digital tool, nor looking for the most polished English answer or the person with the newest laptop. It was looking for teachers who could name a real learner problem, show evidence of effort, commit to practice and carry the learning to other teachers, pupils and their communities.
The written application asked about the class each teacher currently teaches, the topic pupils struggle with, the devices available, current confidence with digital tools, one classroom change the teacher wanted to make, a personal strength and a time they had tried something different.
Shortlisted applicants then joined interviews built around different questions. They spoke about their pupils, classroom difficulties, reasons for applying, past use of digital tools, access to electricity and internet, plans for sharing with colleagues and the place the eight-week fellowship would occupy in their weekly lives.
The point was not to reward perfect answers. It was to hear whether the person behind the form was paying attention to children or they were just looking for another opportunity, to feel among.
Some teachers arrived with strong digital experience. Others had a smartphone and many questions. 11 of the selected fellows rated their digital confidence at the highest point on the application scale, 4 rated themselves at four, 4 at three and 2 at two. 13 reported regular access to both a smartphone and laptop, while others depended on a smartphone or tablet.
The group was deliberately mixed.
A fellowship becomes weaker when every person has the same experience and the same problem. The teacher who already creates digital art can help another teacher think about visual explanation. One teacher who understands rural classroom constraints can stop an idea from becoming too expensive or too dependent on internet access. Another teacher who works with more than 60 pupils can ask whether a method still makes sense when the room is full.
The learner problems were specific
Reading appeared again and again in the applications.
Suliyat wanted to help Primary 4 pupils read with greater confidence. Elie, Esther, Nelson, Jacques, Muiz and Mary also named reading as a problem in their classes. Levi connected reading with fractions and retention. Toyin Olatunji named reading and science understanding together.
Other teachers carried different questions.
Oluwatoyin Ogundipe named multiplication and fractions. Ibrahim named fractions. Josiane named number patterns. Bernard named data handling alongside a Kinyarwanda learning area. Jeannette named two-dimensional shapes.
Patrick wanted to strengthen speaking skills. Samuel wanted pupils to grasp science more fully. Francine named Science and Elementary Technology. Cyusa wanted to explore programming for children. Ntwari named emerging technology. Adeola was already teaching digital art and wanted pupils to plan and develop their work with greater care.
These are not abstract education problems. They are the places where a child pauses, guesses, copies, withdraws or waits for the teacher to move on.
The fellowship begins there.
Some had already started building answers
Adeola described turning a simple motion animation test into a practical workshop when he noticed that pupils wanted to go beyond the original task. They created and refined their own clips instead of stopping at a written check.
Suliyat wanted to introduce a Story Circle where pupils would tell short stories or explain topics in their own words. The idea had not yet become evidence, but it showed that she was thinking about voice, reading and confidence together.
Levi had already used ceiling boxes, the board, desks and floor tiles to teach area and perimeter when markers were limited. His application contained one sentence that describes the kind of teacher the fellowship hopes to strengthen: he can make something out of nothing and help learners believe they can too.
Samuel had used diagrams and cutouts while teaching the circulatory system. When he noticed that some pupils were still not following, he brought in pictures and a three-dimensional video. The important part was not the video itself. It was that he noticed the first explanation had not reached everyone.
Elie described dividing pupils into groups during a Social Studies lesson and giving them questions, drawing tasks and presentations. Pupils who were initially quiet began contributing as the activity continued.
Jeannette had moved a lesson on shapes away from the board by giving groups simple materials to build rectangles. Mary described using group tasks and pupil presentations. Oluwatoyin Grace had used games and quiz activities to draw quieter pupils into the lesson.
These examples may seem small, but why they matter is exactly why this fellowship exist
The first cohort was not selected because every teacher had already built a model classroom. They were selected because they had evidence of trying, noticing and adjusting.
The fellows come from very different rooms
In Nigeria, Adeola teaches digital art to a Primary Five class in Ilorin, Kwara State. Suliyat teaches Primary Four pupils at Ifelodun Community Basic School 3 in Oyo State. Levi works across Primary Four, Five and Six at Meradel Care Schools in Lagos. Samuel teaches Primary Six at Community Primary School Iyana Meta in rural Ogun State.
Toyin Olatunji teaches Primary Four at Saint Patrick’s Catholic School 3 in Ibadan. David teaches Primary Six at Top Grader Nursery and Primary School in Itori. Muiz Yusuf teaches Primary Four at Yewa North Local Government Primary School 2 in Ijoun.
Ibrahim teaches Primary Five at a Qur’anic learning and memorisation centre. Mary teaches literacy, numeracy and science in rural Ogun State. Oluwatoyin Ogundipe teaches Primary Five in Ado Odo Ota.
In Rwanda, Elie teaches Primary Four at GS Gihira. Esther teaches English to Primary Five pupils at GS Giko Catholic. Nelson teaches English and Kinyarwanda at EP Umubano III.
Bernard teaches mathematics and Kinyarwanda at Gafuba Primary School. Jacques teaches mathematics and creative art at GS Kawangire Catholic, where his class has more than 60 pupils.
Francine teaches mathematics and Science and Elementary Technology at GS Nyagahandagaza. Josiane teaches mathematics at Murambi II Primary School. Cyusa teaches Science and Elementary Technology at Echo Des Anges.
Patrick teaches English and Science and Elementary Technology at EP Mubuga Nyabirasi. Ntwari teaches science and elementary technology at EP Bumba. Jeannette teaches mathematics at GS Rutabo A.
This is the first cohort. 21 teachers, from 21 schools or learning settings, and a wide spread of classroom realities.
One teacher has fewer than 15 pupils; another has more than 60
Class size changes what a teaching idea demands.
Four fellows teach fewer than 15 pupils. Five teach between 15 and 25. Six teach between 26 and 40. Five teach between 41 and 60. Jacques works with more than 60.
A small group activity that works beautifully with twelve pupils may become difficult with 65. A digital task that assumes one device per child may collapse in a room where the teacher owns the only phone. A discussion method that gives every pupil time to speak may need another structure in a large class.
This range gives the fellowship a useful test.
Every idea must answer a practical question: Can another teacher use this in a different room?
The fellows will not need identical answers. They will need to explain the choices they make and the conditions around those choices.
Digital does not mean expensive
Some applicants had used videos, Google Sheets, online teaching or digital art tools. Others were only beginning to ask what a phone could do beyond calls, messages and entertainment.
One of the fellows’ interviews described a rural school where pupils had little contact with technology, yet she had used her own tablet to bring new forms of teaching closer to them. Another fellow shared experience in open and distance learning and support from a school with an ICT laboratory and internet access.
Adeola was already working with pupils through digital art. Gerome had tried AI but still needed a clearer understanding during the fellowship and how digital tools should serve learning.
This mixture is important. Digital SPARKS is not a program about placing technology in front of a child and calling the lesson modern. It asks whether the teacher can select a tool with care, protect children’s information, work with weak connectivity and keep the curriculum problem in view.
A phone can display a video that makes the circulatory system easier to picture. It can also distract, collect unnecessary data or give a poor answer with great confidence.
The teacher still has to think.
They were selected to carry the work beyond themselves
Every selected fellow agreed to attend at least six of the eight weekly sessions. They also agreed to share what they learn with at least 5 teachers and 15 pupils in their schools or communities.
That commitment does not become true because it was ticked on a form. The program must follow that commitment through and through.
Who did the fellow share with? What was taught? Which colleague adapted the idea? What artifact exists? Did the school create time for the conversation? Did the practice continue after the first meeting?
This is where the first cohort can become more than a group of individual teachers. A fellow may test an idea with one class, improve it with a buddy from another country, share it with colleagues and document how another teacher used it.
The wider effect will not come from a certificate. It will come from ideas that moved and created new possibilities in the lives of others.
Meet the cohort, but do not rush the story
We’re glad to welcome these 21 Fellows in the Digital Sparks Teachers’ Fellowship. This welcome matters to us, as teachers are often spoken about only when results are poor, exams fail, or a new policy needs someone to implement it.
These teachers deserve to be seen at the beginning, before the improved outcomes come through.
But we must not rush their story. They have just begun the fellowship. We cannot yet say that their pupils read better, that classrooms have changed or that schools have adopted new practices.
What we can say is that they arrived with real learner problems, examples of effort, different levels of digital experience and a willingness to test their ideas in public with peers. That is enough for an honest introduction.
The fellows are not entering the fellowship as empty containers. They are bringing classrooms, questions, mistakes, local materials, unfinished ideas and children whose needs cannot wait for perfect conditions.
We chose teachers who were already looking, and the next eight weeks will show what they do with what they see.
Questions people ask
How many teachers applied for the first Digital SPARKS cohort?
73 primary school teachers applied, and 21 teachers were selected for the first cohort.
Which countries are represented in the final cohort?
The final cohort includes 10 teachers from Nigeria and 11 teachers from Rwanda.
What does the fellowship ask teachers to produce?
The program will be co-designed with the fellows to complete practical assignments, redesign lessons around real learner difficulties, build a teacher portfolio, share learning with colleagues and document classroom evidence without exposing any student private information.
