STEM METS Foundation

Giving life to what every child already has

STEM METS Foundation brings hands-on science, technology and digital learning to public schools and low-income communities across Nigeria, and trains the teachers who keep it going after we leave.

Partner with us See our work
Primary school pupils presenting a water dispenser they built, at the School STEAM Project close-out ceremony
Pupils present the water dispenser their team built, School STEAM Project close-out, Rivers State, June 2026.
1,500
pupils engaged across 30 public primary schools
300+
public school teachers trained to deliver hands-on STEAM
90%
of teachers said the training changed their daily teaching
60
schools in the 2026/27 cycle, double the pilot

What we do

Most Nigerian children meet science as a page in a textbook

They are told about circuits and levers and never build one. The curriculum is sound; the equipment, the training and the time are what is missing. We work inside the public school system to close that gap, rather than around it.

Programmes in public schools

Design-thinking and hands-on STEM delivered in school, during school, to whole year groups rather than a selected few. Pupils finish by building something that answers a problem in their own community.

Teacher training

Low-resource training built on the NERDC curriculum, so teachers can run the activities with materials they can actually obtain. Teachers learn to plan a week around one big-picture question that crosses subjects, and they build every activity themselves before they teach it.

Access to equipment

Shared innovation labs and equipment for schools that have none of their own, placed where several schools can reach them and maintained beyond the life of a single project.

Teachers holding a flipchart lesson plan headed Topic: Human System - Mouth, with the big picture question why is my mouth different from that of a fowl, branching into English Studies, Social Studies and Arts
A lesson plan teachers built in training, from one question: why is my mouth different from that of a fowl? It branches into English, Social Studies and Arts.
Teachers raising a flying machine they built from cardboard and paper during training
A training table holds up the flying machine it built.
A group of pupils sketching a design together in an exercise book
Pupils sketch a design before anything gets built.
Pupils gathered around a device they have wired from a circuit board, speaker and battery
Wiring a working device from a board, a speaker and a battery.

Our work · 2025–2026

The School STEAM Project, Rivers State

Between November 2025 and June 2026 we delivered a design-thinking STEAM programme across 30 public primary schools in Rivers State, as technical partner to the Oando Foundation and working alongside the Rivers State Universal Basic Education Board.

We trained more than 300 teachers, ran a five-week Design Thinking programme with around 1,500 pupils in Primary 4 to 6, commissioned a central STEAM Innovation Lab at St Andrew's State School for schools with no facilities of their own, and connected pupils with female STEM mentors from Oando. Every school built an innovation project and submitted a pitch; five finalists presented at the close-out ceremony on 30 June 2026.

On the strength of the pilot, the Oando Foundation commissioned a second cycle covering 60 schools in 2026/27, the 30 pilot schools plus 30 new ones.

What the evaluation found

90%of teachers surveyed said the training influenced their daily teaching significantly or very significantly. None reported no influence.
9.1/10average likelihood to recommend the training, with 56% scoring it a perfect 10.
84%now use the recommended technology tools at least weekly.
92%of 144 weekly facilitator check-ins recorded lesson objectives fully achieved; pupil engagement was rated High in 71%.

Source: post-training survey of 50 teachers and 144 weekly classroom check-ins, School STEAM Project end-of-project report, 2026.

Finalist school teams, teachers and partners at the School STEAM Project close-out ceremony
Finalist teams, head teachers and partners at the close-out ceremony, 30 June 2026.
Commissioning plaque for the Science Innovation Laboratory at St Andrew's State School
The Science Innovation Laboratory at St Andrew's State School, commissioned on 4 March 2026 by the Chairman of the Rivers State Universal Basic Education Board.

At a glance

FunderOando Foundation
State partnerRSUBEB
LocationRivers State
PeriodNov 2025 – Jun 2026
Schools30
Teachers trained300+
Pupils engaged~1,500
Year groupsPrimary 4–6
Innovation lab1 commissioned
Mentor sessions30
Projects built30
Finalists5
Closed30 June 2026
Next cycle60 schools, 2026/27

How we work

Four commitments we hold to on every programme

Build, don't recite

Learners are assessed on what they made

Every programme ends with pupils presenting real work to people outside their school. No child passes by memorising a definition.

Teachers first

We train the people who stay

We are visitors; the teacher is there every day. Training them is the only version of this work that survives the end of a grant.

Low resource by design

It has to work without reliable power

Activities are designed for classrooms with intermittent electricity, no internet and materials bought locally. If it only works in a well-equipped lab, it does not work.

Girls counted separately

We report what girls got, not what the cohort got

Participation, completion and outcomes are tracked and reported for girls on their own, because an average hides the thing we are trying to change.

Teachers building a model of the solar system from balls and paper during training
Teachers model the solar system before they teach it.
A mentor holding a microphone for a pupil answering a question during a session
Pupils answer for their own work in front of an audience.
Four pupils in school uniform in their classroom in Rivers State
Public primary school pupils, Rivers State.

Governance and accountability

What a funder needs to check before writing a cheque

We are a registered Nigerian non-profit with a board of trustees, annual audited accounts and a clear relationship to the company that founded us. Documentation is available on request.

Legal and financial

Registered nameIncorporated Trustees of STEM METS Foundation
RegistrarCorporate Affairs Commission, Nigeria
Registration no.RC 135176
Registered2019
Tax ID22988664-0001
Registered office284 Murtala Mohammed Way, Yaba, Lagos
Audited accountsAnnual, latest 2025

Who governs us. The Foundation is directed by its Board of Trustees, which approves all programmes, budgets and partner contracts.

  • Charles OgunwuyiChief Executive Officer, Sygen Pharmaceuticals
  • Adekunle AdedejiChairman, Argentil Capital Partners
  • Jadesola AdedejiCo-founder, STEM METS

Our relationship to STEM METS Resources Ltd. The Foundation is the non-profit arm of STEM METS Resources Ltd, the education company founded in 2013. The two are separate legal entities with separate accounts. Where the Foundation procures services from the company, the contract is priced at arm's length, documented, and approved by trustees who have no interest in it. Interested trustees declare that interest and take no part in the decision.

How we report. Every funded programme carries agreed indicators set before delivery starts, interim and end-of-project reporting, and a separate retirement of funds. We report what did not work alongside what did.

Partner with us

Three ways organisations work with the Foundation

Fund a programme

Corporate foundations and donors fund delivery in a state, a local government area or a cluster of schools, with reporting against indicators agreed up front.

Deliver with us

Ministries, agencies and school networks bring the schools and the mandate; we bring curriculum, teacher training and delivery.

Build something new

Where an organisation holds a piece we do not, such as employer networks or specialist training, we design the programme jointly rather than subcontracting it.

contact@stem-mets.com +234 808 313 3899 284 Murtala Mohammed Way, Yaba, Lagos, Nigeria