In 12 weeks, your teenager will launch
a real venture.
In public. With press present.
PBL Lab is a 12-week programme for ambitious 14 to 18-year-olds in Nigeria. They identify a real problem in their community, build a solution, and launch it to the public, the press, and the community. They leave with a portfolio universities cannot ignore.
Free PDF brief plus a 30-minute discovery call with Joseph Chonkea, our founder
The Founding Cohort 2026 is limited to 12 teenagers. By application only.
Built on a track record that speaks for itself.
Our founder's federal and institutional work
International partner for the Edinburgh tour
Featured in
Our founder, Joseph Chonkea, was awarded the 2025 Project Management Excellence Award by the Federal Ministry of Interior for leading the Ministry's digital transformation. The same approach that earned that recognition is what your teenager will learn at PBL Lab, scaled to their level.
The Nigerian education system was not built for the world your teenager will live in.
School teaches your child how to pass exams. It does not always teach them how to identify a real problem, design a real solution, work with real stakeholders, and put a real piece of work in front of the public.
By 18, most Nigerian teenagers can recite what they have memorised. Few can show you something they have built. Universities are noticing. Employers are noticing. International programmes are noticing.
If your teenager is ambitious, curious, and frustrated with passive learning, school alone is not enough. They need a space where they are expected to build, expected to ship, and expected to stand in front of the public with work they can defend.
That is the space we have spent 14 years building.
Three things your teenager will own at the end of the 12 weeks.
A real, launched venture
Not a project they handed in. Not a slide deck they presented in class. A genuine social venture, operating in the community, that the public has seen and can engage with. It belongs to your teenager. They can keep growing it long after the programme ends.
Public recognition under your family's full control
The cohort ends in a Grand Launch: a public event where each team presents their working venture to family, community members, journalists, and invited sponsors. Your family is in control of your teenager's visibility—every photograph or video featuring your child is submitted to you for review before any publication.
A portfolio that universities cannot ignore
We document everything your teenager does: the research they conducted, the people they interviewed, the prototypes they built, the iterations they survived. This becomes portfolio over paper: a real body of work that proves capability, not a piece of paper that claims it.
Four stages. Twelve weeks. One launched venture.
Every PBL Lab cohort moves through the same four-stage journey. We call this the PBL Lab Project Engine.
Find a real problem
Your teenager identifies a problem in their community that they have seen, felt, or been close enough to care about. No textbook case studies. No imaginary scenarios. The problem is real, the people affected are real, and the work matters.
Understand it properly
Before building anything, the team researches the problem. They speak to people affected. They map out everyone who needs to be involved in solving it.
Build the solution
The team designs something that fits the problem. It might be a piece of technology, a campaign, a small business, or a community service.
Launch it publicly
The cohort culminates in the Grand Launch, a public event where the teenagers' ventures are released to the world. Family, press, community members, and sponsors attend. This is not a graduation ceremony with certificates. It is a real public release of real work.
Find a real problem
Your teenager identifies a problem in their community that they have seen, felt, or been close enough to care about. No textbook case studies. No imaginary scenarios. The problem is real, the people affected are real, and the work matters.
Understand it properly
Before building anything, the team researches the problem. They speak to people affected. They map out everyone who needs to be involved in solving it.
Build the solution
The team designs something that fits the problem. It might be a piece of technology, a campaign, a small business, or a community service.
Launch it publicly
The cohort culminates in the Grand Launch, a public event where the teenagers' ventures are released to the world. Family, press, community members, and sponsors attend. This is not a graduation ceremony with certificates. It is a real public release of real work.
Five reasons parents choose PBL Lab over the alternatives.
Your teenager builds a real, working venture, not a project file
Most programmes end with your teenager handing in a report, a presentation, or a certificate. Ours ends with them handing the public a launched venture they can keep growing.
We use multiple skills together, not one skill in isolation
A coding bootcamp teaches your teen to code. A business plan competition teaches them to write a business plan. PBL Lab teaches them to combine all of these, because real social entrepreneurship needs technology, storytelling, advocacy, and business sense working together.
The problems are real. The launches are public
Every project tackles a genuine Nigerian community problem. Every cohort ends with a public Grand Launch event, not a private classroom showcase. This forces the work to be real, because the public will see it.
We use methods recognised at the highest levels of Nigerian government
Joseph Chonkea was awarded the 2025 Project Management Excellence Award by Nigeria's Federal Ministry of Interior. When we say "federal-grade," we mean the standard required when the Federal Ministry of Interior holds you accountable for results.
We are honest about what we will not promise
We will not promise a university scholarship. We will not promise overnight wealth. We will not promise the programme is a substitute for school. What we promise is a real piece of work, a real portfolio, and the experience of having shipped something in public before they turn 18.
Meet our founder.
Founder, Project-Based Learning Lab
Joseph Chonkea is a management consultant with over eight years of experience advising the Nigerian federal government and international development partners, including GIZ Germany. In 2025, the Federal Ministry of Interior awarded him the Project Management Excellence Award for leading Interas, the Ministry's new digital records system, recognised in national press for transforming how the Ministry operates.
Alongside that consulting career, Joseph has spent 14 years working with ambitious Nigerian teenagers in private secondary schools across Abuja, Lagos, and beyond. He teaches the skills that matter:
- Critical thinking
- Innovation
- Collaboration and teamwork
- Community service
- Public speaking
- Project management
- Writing
"Most teen-entrepreneurship programmes are run by people whose only experience is teen entrepreneurship. PBL Lab is run by someone whose other full-time work is designing systems for the Nigerian federal government. Your teenager learns the real version. Not a watered-down translation."
– Our founder
The work our teenagers have done.
PBL Lab was formally registered in 2026, but the methodology behind it has been in active practice for 14 years through our founder's work in Nigerian private secondary schools. Below are some of the outcomes from teams Joseph has coached.
A device that monitors water and air quality
A team of Nigerian secondary-school students designed and built a community device to monitor water and air quality in their environment. Their work was covered by Daily Times Nigeria.
Second place at Nigeria's premier national youth entrepreneurship competition
The Edge Sage team from Hillside School, Gwarimpa, Abuja, placed second at Nigeria's premier national youth entrepreneurship competition, working under the methodology that now powers PBL Lab.
Representing Nigeria internationally in Edinburgh, Scotland
A team from Marist College was selected to represent Nigeria at the global youth entrepreneurship contest held in Edinburgh, Scotland.
As featured in:
See PBL Lab in Action
Real teenagers. Real learning. Real impact.
Community First
Collaboration & Innovation
Achievement & Growth
Joy in Learning
Active Participation
Mentorship Matters
These are real teenagers from PBL Lab cohorts, building real ventures in their communities.
Three ways your teenager can engage with PBL Lab.
The Founding Cohort is our flagship 2026 programme. We also run an international tour and a hands-on technology programme. All three are powered by the same methodology.
The Founding Cohort 2026
A 12-week social entrepreneurship cohort. Founder-led. In Nigeria. Limited to 12 teenagers. Ages 14 to 18.
Tuition: ₦200,000–300,000
Payment plan available: 40% deposit, balance in two instalments via Paystack.
Applications open now. Rolling admission.
Edinburgh International Tour 2026
A two-week international immersion in Edinburgh, Scotland, in partnership with SAGE United Kingdom. Build, pitch, and network with global youth entrepreneurs.
Ages: 16–18
Tuition: £TBD
Spots are limited. Early interest welcome.
Tech Labs Abuja
A hands-on technology programme focused on building real software solutions. Designed for teens already coding or ready to learn.
Ages: 14–18
Location: Abuja
Opening term TBD.
The questions parents ask before applying
Get The Founding Cohort Brief
Three fields. One brief. One discovery call.