IT NEWS NIGERIA
TalentQL says participants do not need to have a tech background to apply for the AltSchool program and it is open to everyone from age16 and above, and it is entirely online
IT News Nigeria:
TalentQL, a Lagos-based skill acquisition startup, Thursday unveiled AltSchool Africa, a program designed to train and create tech talents from entry level free.
Speaking during the ceremony at the Lekki head office in Lagos, the co-founder and CEO of TalentQL, Mr. Adewale Yusuf said skills acquisition is a big challenge to a great number of individuals and because of high cost some are often excluded. He noted that the program provides a level playing field for everyone to acquire these much needed skills to enable participants access opportunities remotely anywhere in the world.
According to him, participants at AltSchool Africa would receive training in software development in nine (9) months, and after which they undergo a three month internship. He added that the program will cover areas including front-end engineering, back-end engineering, and cloud engineering. “At the end, they get a diploma certificate. Currently, the startup is partnering with the Michael and Cecilia Ibru’s University to issue these certificates,” Adewale said.
How to apply for TalentQL AltSchool
To apply, candidates are to visit AltSchool Africa. IT News Nigeria also gathered that participants do not need to have a tech background to apply for the program and it is open to everyone from age of 16 and above.
Furthermore, there are no tuition fees required although participants would have to pay a $20 (₦10,000) application fee.
Our Correspondent also learned prospective candidates would receive a study kit as a guide to prepare for the assessment following online applications.
The CEO said the objectives are to ensure that it is not just smart people who get in but those who are tenacious. There are three learning tracks.
The AltSchool Program
TalentQL also revealed that AltSchool mode of instruction will be entirely online. according to Adewale, “We will intends to use the power of community to help students learn better. Through what it calls “Community Peering Learning,’ participants in the same location can meet occasionally to learn and exchange ideas.”
“There’s going to be a lot of self learning. We’re going to do online and then we have something we call community pairing learning. So for example, if you’re from Osun State, we are going to get people from Osun State to meet and learn together a few times every month. We’ve also designed the program in such a way that you can still be a part of it even if you have a job or are a student.”
Why AltSchool will be different
The AltSchool program is free. However, participants would pay after they are gainfully employed after training. “We understand that many talented people cannot afford this training”, the company said. As a result, it created a level playing field for everyone to get these much needed skills to be relevant in todays new reality in workplace. It added that rather than charge a fee, the startup would utilize what it described as an income sharing agreement (ISA), where candidate would pay monthly percentage of salary after they get a job for agreed period of time.
Speaking passionately why responding to questions, Mr. Adewale said we will not be putting a lot of costs on the payroll, which is a lot of money. “We’re not putting this because you understand, and that’s the nature of mistakes others made and failed.
Furthermore, “we are Nigerians. Others are not Nigerians. This is our own, they are not Africans and this is our own market. We have to train our people whether we like it or not, we have to find all the sustainable way to train our people.”
