Alex Onyia Is Giving Children a Practical Introduction to Engineering This Holiday

For many children, the holiday period is a time to rest, play and take a break from schoolwork. But for a group of children learning with EduCare, the break is also becoming an opportunity to discover what they can build with their own hands.

Alex Onyia, CEO of EduCare, is using the holiday period to expose children to practical engineering and technology through hands-on drone training an approach that goes beyond teaching children what technology is to showing them how it works.

The training introduces the children to several aspects of engineering and electronics, including welding electronic components, 3D printing, programming microcontrollers, connecting sensors and actuators, and using buck converters for voltage regulation.

While these may sound like advanced technical concepts, exposing children to them early can help make technology more tangible and less intimidating. Instead of seeing engineering as something that exists only in textbooks or university laboratories, the children are given an opportunity to experiment with the principles themselves.

From Learning About Technology to Building With It

One of the strongest aspects of the initiative is its emphasis on practical learning.

Traditional classroom education remains important, but understanding a concept and being able to apply it are not always the same thing. Practical experiences give learners the opportunity to test what they know, make mistakes, troubleshoot problems and understand how different components work together.

That is particularly important in STEM education.

When a child learns how to connect a sensor, programme a microcontroller or work with electronic components, they are not simply acquiring a technical skill. They are also developing curiosity, logical thinking, patience and problem-solving abilities.

These are skills that can remain useful regardless of whether that child eventually becomes an engineer, technologist, entrepreneur, researcher or chooses an entirely different career path.

The bigger lesson is that children should not only be prepared to consume technology. They should also have opportunities to understand it, question it and eventually create with it.

Learning From Someone Who Has Been There

Guiding the children through the practical sessions is Chizoba, a First Class graduate of Mechatronics Engineering with an impressive CGPA of 4.96 out of 5.

Her background adds another important dimension to the experience.

For young learners, seeing someone who has successfully studied and worked within a technical field can make the possibilities of STEM education feel more real. It provides a relatable example of where sustained learning, curiosity and technical competence can lead.

More importantly, the sessions appear to be creating an environment where children can engage directly with engineering rather than simply hearing about it.

That kind of exposure can be valuable at an early age, when interests and perceptions about future careers are still taking shape.

Why Practical STEM Exposure Matters

Nigeria’s future development will require more than young people with academic qualifications. It will require people who can apply knowledge to real problems.

From technology and manufacturing to energy, agriculture, transportation and telecommunications, the country’s challenges increasingly require technical knowledge alongside creativity and problem-solving.

This makes early exposure to STEM particularly meaningful.

A child who learns to programme a microcontroller today may develop a deeper interest in software or robotics tomorrow. Another child may discover a passion for electronics, mechanical engineering or product design. For another, the experience may simply build the confidence to approach unfamiliar problems with curiosity rather than fear.

Not every child who participates in a programme like this will become an engineer. That is not necessarily the point.

The value is in giving children the opportunity to discover their capabilities before they are expected to choose a career path.

An Opportunity to Learn Beyond Certificates

Perhaps the most important message behind the initiative is the distinction between education and certification.

Certificates have their place. Academic qualifications can open doors and demonstrate that someone has completed a course of study. But the ability to apply knowledge, solve problems and create something useful is equally important.

Children need opportunities to experience that distinction early.

When a learner moves from reading about electronics to actually working with electronic components, learning becomes more memorable. When they move from hearing about programming to writing instructions for a microcontroller, abstract concepts begin to take shape. When they work with 3D printing, they can see how an idea can move from a digital design into a physical object.

That is the kind of experience that can help children begin to see themselves not merely as students, but as potential creators and problem-solvers.

A Worthwhile Example of Impact-Focused Education

Alex Onyia’s decision to use the holiday period for this kind of practical learning deserves recognition.

At a time when children can easily spend their holidays entirely consuming digital content, creating spaces where they can instead build, experiment and learn how things work is a worthwhile investment in their development.

The initiative also highlights an important conversation about the kind of education young Nigerians need.

The goal should not be to choose between classroom learning and practical learning. It should be to create an education system where both complement each other, where children can understand the theory, apply it in practice and develop the confidence to use what they have learned.

That is why this effort by Alex Onyia and the EduCare team is worth spotlighting.

It is not simply about teaching children how to build or programme drones. It is about giving them the opportunity to discover that complex things can be understood, problems can be solved and ideas can become real.

And sometimes, that first experience of building something with their own hands is enough to make a child look at technology differently not just as something made by other people, but as something they too can learn to create.

CSR Reporters Commends the Initiative

At CSR Reporters, we believe meaningful impact deserves to be recognised, especially when it creates opportunities for people to learn, grow and imagine new possibilities for themselves.

For this reason, we commend Alex Onyia and the EduCare team for making practical STEM education part of these children’s holiday experience.

The initiative is a commendable example of how individuals and organisations can contribute to education not only by providing information, but by creating opportunities for young people to gain practical skills, explore their interests and discover their potential.

It is the kind of work worth putting a spotlight on, not because it solves every challenge facing education, but because it demonstrates a meaningful commitment to helping children learn beyond the classroom.

CSR Reporters commends Alex Onyia for creating a space where children can do more than learn about technology. They can experiment with it, build with it, ask questions about it and begin to see themselves as people capable of creating solutions.

That is an investment in the future and one worth recognizing.