Your Future Academy

In Ukraine, thousands of children have had their education seriously disrupted in recent years. Schools in some parts of the country have been damaged or destroyed, and in other places security concerns have rightly taken priority over the learning process. 

These young people are not alone. All over the world, people living in marginalized communities face barriers to accessing high-quality education and the resources to develop skills that will prepare them for the future. This perpetuates the inequalities that caused those communities to be marginalized in the first place. 

That’s why Mojang Studios has teamed up with UNICEF’s Learning Passport to help children and young people build and develop their digital skills in an initiative called “Your Future Academy”. Through game-based learning, this initiative aims to provide children and young people with the skills needed to thrive in the future 

To ensure that the initiative can meet the needs of teachers and students, Your Future Academy is being piloted in two countries – Ukraine and Ghana. In both locations, young people will have the chance to access tailored training resources through UNICEF’s Learning Passport,  the organization’s flagship digital learning programme. 

The pilot has already launched in Ukraine, where the aim is to give children and young people impacted by the war the chance to learn coding and internet safety through play, as well as access social-emotional and mental health resources. Eleven regions have already launched 88 Digital Learning Centers, with more than 12,000 students working on collaborative building projects. 

 "In collaboration with Minecraft Education, the Learning Passport is providing much-needed socioemotional support to children and young people living in emergencies. This collaboration goes beyond traditional education, offering a safe and interactive space where students can express themselves, build resilience, and find joy in learning. By prioritizing their well-being, we are helping them navigate the challenges they face and nurturing their potential to thrive." - Mac Glovinsky, Global Chief, Learning Passport, UNICEF 

In Ghana, over 50% of students in primary year four don’t reach the minimum competency in English and Maths. Those setbacks largely come from limited access to quality education and skills-development opportunities. Here, the focus of the pilot is on building 21st-century skills around digital literacy. Minecraft Hour of Code lessons help junior and senior secondary school students to build their computer science and coding skills, with teachers supported in ensuring it delivers their learning objectives.  Fifteen head teachers and 15 ICT Heads have been formally trained in Minecraft Education, and they are preparing to train 250 teachers and roll out the program to 10,000 students this fall. 

The goal of these pilots is to help learners develop skills they’ll need to thrive in a digital future – like numeracy, coding and computer science, to close the digital divide by improving access to the best training and educational resources through game-based learning, and to build and refine the model so it can be rolled out in more places. 

“Minecraft is more than a game about placing blocks, it empowers children to learn, create and collaborate in a virtual world,” explained Ava Volandes, Director of Social Impact, Minecraft. “As a company, our purpose is to Build a Better World through the power of play. Your Future Academy harnesses the power of Minecraft Education to provide children with access to quality digital education and foster a global community of learners.”