In my continuous quest for knowledge and self-improvement on the Cloud, sometime in September 2024 I decided to apply to join AltSchool Africa’s Tinyuka Class of 2024, Cloud Engineering Track for their diploma which is a supposed to run for one year with four semesters. Before I go into all that, let me share a little bit of background as to how I found AltSchool. I was surfing on LinkedIn one Saturday morning as usual and I came across a post from Hack Sultan (a big name in the African Tech Eco-System if you know you know) talking about AltSchool Africa and how it intends to revolutionize the Tech Education Industry and disrupt the market. I have also previously heard about AltSchool for quite a while, but I just thought to go through their website with the link he shared to probably see what courses they offer at the time and after spending a couple of hours on the site, like the popular old saying goes the rest is history.
Moving forward, I’ll be sharing my entire AltSchool experience here weekly and by doing this I get to share what studying there looks like. Also aspiring Cloud Engineers and Tech Enthusiasts or even Professionals can go through this picking one or two key take-aways that may end up being useful on their job and possibly throughout their career. By sharing my experience, I also intend to create a broad reference document that cuts across various implementations of cloud and cloud concepts, working on real world solutions to everyday problems by building upon the knowledge acquired through projects.
The AltSchool Application Process
As at September 2024 when I applied, I paid (#20,000 or $20) for the application fee of course with a discount of 10%. This fee also allowed you access to be able to apply for scholarship which is also a good one. On the Altschool website, their courses are segmented into different schools which are as follows;
School of Engineering: In this School, courses offered as at the time of writing are Front-End Engineering, Back-End Engineering, Cloud Engineering and Cybersecurity.
School of Data: In this School, courses offered as at the time of writing are Data Analysis, Data Science and Data Engineering.
School of Product: In this School, courses offered as at the time of writing are Product Design, Product Marketing and Product Management.
School of Creative Economy: In this School, courses offered as at the time of writing are courses on Navigating the Music Business in Africa: Afrobeats case study and Content Mastery for African Creators.
School of Business: In this School, courses offered as at the time of writing are courses on High-Impact Selling: From Prospecting to closing and Digital Marketing.
As stated earlier, I applied to the School of Engineering (Cloud Engineering Track). The process was quite straight forward and below is the admission requirements;
Educational Background: You don’t need to have a certificate to apply for this diploma program. They expect anyone to take the program.
Language Proficiency: The course is conducted in English, so applicants must have a basic understanding of the English language to effectively engage with the curriculum and participate in discussions.
Assessment: All applicants will be required to take an assessment. However, they would provide you with a study kit to prepare you for the assessment. The entrance exam will evaluate your problem-solving skills, programming knowledge, and readiness for the diploma program.
You can do well to take a look at their website for more details.
N/B: This is not some paid sponsorship or promotion it’s just personal thoughts.
Scholarships
The following scholarships are available and open for applicants with different requirements attached as seen on the site as at the time of writing this.
1 Binance Scholarship Fund: Eligibility Criteria include;
Must be a resident of Sub-Saharan Africa.
Value: 100% Tuition
2 Kenya Female Stem Fund: To be considered for this scholarship,
You must score at least 85% in the AltSchool’s entrance assessment.
Must be female.
Must be from Kenya.
Must be willing to commit to the program.
Proof of Kenya citizenship or residency, such as a passport or national ID card.
Write an essay (1000 words or less) about your story and how the scholarship will help you.
Value: 100% Tuition
3 Ayoba Developer Program Scholarship Fund: To be considered for this scholarship,
You must score at least 85% in the AltSchool’s entrance assessment.
Age: 18 – 35 years.
Must be enrolled in the School of Engineering.
Must be from Nigeria, South Africa or Ghana.
Must be willing to commit to the program.
Proof of Nigerian, South African or Ghanaian citizenship, such as a passport or national ID card.
Write an essay (1000 words or less) about your story and how the scholarship will help you.
Value: 100% Tuition
They also have a lot more scholarship offers that I didn’t mention here, but you can do well to go through their website.
School Fee Payment and On-Boarding
Payment is divided into 3 sections (Monthly - $30, Quarterly - $80 and Upfront/One-time payment - $290). Kindly note that payment differs for different countries especially Nigerians. It is also safe to note that the program is not only for Africans but open worldwide as I have seen people from different races as well as continents here.
After the whole registration process, we were added to slack groups for our individual schools. This was the main means of communication as well as collaboration between staffs and students. We also had access to some on-boarding materials which after studying for like one to two weeks, were given assessments.
After taking and passing the assessments, we were then added to a different slack group for the main program and also added to something called learning circles. The different Schools had student representatives which we elected by the way.
Final Thoughts
I love the fact that the program is 100% online and also very flexible taking into account working class professionals like myself. So far so good, we have been able to cover the basics of computer science, web development basics (HTML, CSS and Java Script) amongst others. I will be sharing everything learnt here at least once every week so do well to subscribe so as to be updated once I post new updates.
If you have read all the way to this point thank you So much! I appreciate the effort. If you found this interesting and would love to take the next steps in the application process do use my referral link below;
Apply here or use this Code: W2jBG8 during the registration process and by so doing, You will be supporting me and also getting a discount!
Special Offer: By signing up through the link, you’ll receive a 10% discount!
Don’t miss out on this opportunity to transform your future and also save while doing it! Let’s grow together in the tech space. Also feel free to reach out if you need assistance or clarity regarding the program. You can also let me know what else I’m missing if you think I missed anything using the comment section below. I'd love to hear your thoughts.
I am Ikoh Sylva a Cloud Computing Enthusiast with few months hands on experience on AWS. I’m currently documenting my Cloud journey here from a beginner’s perspective. If this sounds good to you kindly like and follow, also consider recommending this article to others who you think might also be starting out their cloud journeys to enable us learn and grow together.
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