Jacob Deng

When Jacob lost his father in South Sudan’s civil war, he was forced to become a cleaner and translator in a local hospital in order to pay his high school fees and help support his family. Despite his situation and the sacrifices he had to make, he also helped other students with their learning, tutoring them in mathematics and science subjects after class. When his hometown, Bor, flooded in 2013, his family had to migrate to a refugee camp in Uganda, and the chances of continuing his studies seemed low. But Jacob kept looking for every possible opportunity: after a time he returned to South Sudan, obtained a scholarship and joined a school in Yei River State – also working part-time to support his family in the camp.  

After he finished high school in 2015, Jacob worked for six years as a volunteer teacher and IMA World Health gender officer, also establishing a centre in his community to act as a space for youth empowerment. In 2021, a significant turning point occurred when a friend encouraged him to apply for a scholarship at Costa Rica’s EARTH University with the Mastercard Foundation. Winning this scholarship was a milestone for Jacob. It not only provided a lifeline to academic advancement but also empowered him to fulfil his potential as an agent of change. Inspired to embrace the ethos of giving back to others, Jacob subsequently founded his Education Needs All organisation to expand educational opportunities for underprivileged youth across Africa. 

Education Needs All began when fellow students started asking Jacob for help in applying for scholarships, since most of them lacked access to the Internet. Jacob began to see the need for a platform where he could help hundreds or thousands of people at once instead of one at a time. The answer was Education Needs All – named as such because education must not leave behind refugees, displaced people, or those who are underprivileged. Jacob created a WhatsApp group which was joined by many ambitious students, as well as scholarship winners studying in other countries around the world. These scholarship holders became a 20-strong mentor team for students, providing advice on applying for scholarships globally. To date, Education Needs All has mentored more than 3,000 students and helped over 100 young people secure scholarships, including refugees and those who are disadvantaged. In less than a year, Education Needs All has grown into a thriving community with four WhatsApp platforms, over 3500 students, 3400+ Facebook followers, and more than 530 LinkedIn followers. 

If Jacob wins the Global Student Prize, he will use the funds mainly to grow Education Needs All. 70 per cent of the funds will be used to advance the Promote Education Now project, which aims to bridge the digital divide among the underprivileged by establishing Innovation Hub Centres in three refugee camps: Nyumanzi, Kakuma, and an IDP camp in South Sudan. This will promote digital inclusion as well as gender equality, youth empowerment, peacebuilding, mentorship, career assistance, and scholarship orientations in schools. It will also engage entities like the Mastercard Foundation, UNESCO, UNFPA, UNHCR, and other partners to sponsor students and programmes within these centres. Jacob hopes that the Education Needs All community will thrive and triple its projected impact by 2030.