AltSchool Africa is building a tech learning platform for teenagers 

Edutech platform AltSchool Africa has launched an online tech training for teenagers, structured to unlock their creativity, capacity and exploration in tech at an early stage of their lives.

According to the startup, the initiative stems from parents’ demands on how their kids can be placed on the right path at an early stage of their lives. While summer (holidays) is fast approaching, the program will look to empower kids with 1-on-1 mentorship and equip them with practical skills in software engineering. 

While the program is currently in its experimental stage, Head of Global Operations at AltSchool Africa, Nifemi Akinwamide, in an exclusive conversation with Technext, explained that the program is designed in a ‘catch them young’ model for teenagers. He added that young ones nowadays are only exposed to tech-related training in tertiary institutions, which might not allow them to discover their full potential. 

AltSchool Africa believes that kids and teenagers don’t need to be computer engineering students in a university or polytechnic before making the crucial decision of learning a skill. 

In contrast to the present phenomenon where students get exposed to tech at a higher education level, AltSchool Africa noted that when teenagers start to learn different tech skills in demand at 14, 15, 16-year-olds, it exposes their minds to what is possible early on, and guide them in making the right decisions on their career. 

“The way we are thinking about it is that if we can get kids early on to start from that journey, it will no longer be re-skilling into re-skilling. Re-skilling is when someone has already gone on a different path, maybe has learnt biochemistry or fishery, wood technology,” said Nifemi.  

The program not only exposes teenagers to tech skills, Nifemi explains that it also puts them in control of career choice and provides them with ample opportunities. He stressed that as these teenagers are prospective tertiary institution students, the program serves as a bridge where they learn the skills, understand the basics of those skills, and tailor them to define their career. 

“I was sitting with one of the chaps that we are planning this with last week, and you could tell, yes, he wants to do computer science, but he doesn’t really know what exactly he’s meant to do,” he added. 

As the initiative is designed to reshape the traditional learning process, Alt School Africa acknowledged that the product is still in its experimental stage, where it’s testing the project to accommodate interests from parents, individuals and possibly partner with schools. 

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How AltSchool Africa is shaping the program 

According to AltSchool Africa, the summer online tech class is structured to run for 2-3 months. The collection of information from interested parents who want to enrol their kids is already ongoing, and the payment structure will be communicated to parents.

While the program is expected to run from August to September/October, the need for balance between the training and academics is pertinent. To this, Nifemi expressed that the training is not structured to compete with the normal school activities and will be designed to be accommodating. 

For now, AltSchool Africa is limiting the courses to just Software Engineering, which will encompass basic fundamentals such as the website structure, HTML, and CSS. On why it’s starting with the course, he expressed that learning how to code builds kids’ innovative skills and helps them approach and handle life problems. 

“I believe that we have entered a stage or a period where everybody, especially in that age group, should actually learn how to code. Not because of even the coding part, but at least it helps them in terms of design thinking,” Nifemi explained. 

Moreover, as the project is in its early stage, AltSchool Africa’s Global Operations Head said that it will kick start with an online phase but will consider a physical extension depending on demand.  

Considering the fact that AltSchool Africa isn’t a pioneer of this initiative, the company explained that what sets them apart is the image of the company and what it’s known for, the course structure, practicality, quality of instructors and how it will align with their future. 

“The difference for us is that we want to be able to make sure that there’s an outcome for participants and attest that it’s worth their time and money. We are going beyond just the software, but also helping the child realise their career path, their thought process and their future,” Nifemi noted.

For AltSchool Africa, the program is more than teaching kids how to program or code an application, but shapes them for future aspirations, helps them realise their passion and prepares their minds for what’s to come.