This Nigerian online tech school will help you kick-start a career in tech within a year

Nigeria's AltSchool has added data and product schools to its portfolio after opening its first engineering school earlier this year and securing pre-seed funding in response to the rising demand for technical skills among young people and companies, according to TechCrunch.

Product marketing, design and management, data science, engineering, and analysis are a few of the new courses. In addition, there is a software engineering course that allows students to specialize in cloud engineering or front-end and back-end.

Adewale Yusuf, co-founder, and CEO of AltSchool, told TechCrunch that since opening, the school has seen a surge in demand for its courses, indicating a growing number of young people who are motivated to pursue jobs in technology. 

While running TalentQL, a different startup that hires and manages remote workers on behalf of companies Yusuf saw a gap in knowledge among software engineers. He founded the company with Akintunde Sultan, Opeyemi Awoyemi October of last year.

They started AltSchool to train those software developers who lacked "foundational knowledge" as well as those who were switching to a career in technology. The school offers diplomas to students through partnerships with colleges and universities all around Africa.

“While running TalentQL, we realised that there was a huge knowledge gap with some of the software engineers who passed through our vetting process, when it came to understanding basic things about software engineering,” the startup wrote on its website.

“A lot of them were self-taught and while they had gone on to gain good technical skills, some foundational knowledge was missing.”

Yusuf said AtlSchool receieved 9,200 applications at its launch but only accepted half of the numbers, with the tuition being $30 per month, or $1 per day.

The school has established a base in Rwanda to promote its growth outside of West Africa, and as a result, now has students in more than eight different African nations.

Students must pass an admittance assessment test in order to be admitted, however the online school provides a three-month probationary period for applicants who don't match the criteria in the initial round.

With short courses that can last up to a year, the tech school is able to produce talent at a rate that is fast enough to fulfill market demand, according to TechCrunch. As more startups are founded or scaled up with the help of VC funding, the demand for developers is anticipated to increase.

About AltSchool

Unlike conventional institutions, AltSchool Africa is a unique organization. It is a school for people who want to learn technical skills and launch a career in technology. By offering courses that are directly related to the chosen track, AltSchool Africa adopts a non-traditional approach to education.

 It gives students the opportunity to become professional software engineers within a year due to its comprehensive curriculum, which integrates academic knowledge with real-world applications. The goal of AltSchool is to assist individuals in pursuing the career they desire. It provides students with the knowledge and abilities to accomplish the success they want, whether they are just gotten out of high school, seeking further education, or wish to switch to a profession in technology.