Founded in 2014, Moringa School offers courses that train students to become strong mobile and web developers. Some of its graduates work at companies such as Safaricom, Barclays, Cellulant and Craft Silicon.
We caught up with the Moringa School CEO and Co-Founder Audrey Cheng to tell us more about the school.
1. How did Moringa School come about?
Moringa School is a world-class coding school with a vision to transform higher education in Africa by creating high-quality, market-driven vocational training. We were founded in 2014, because Audrey saw a need while working for Savannah Fund to focus on skills before entrepreneurship.
2. What courses do you offer?
Moringa School currently has a 95% job placement rate with graduates working as full-time software engineers at companies like Safaricom, Barclays, Cellulant and Craft Silicon. Here’s how we do it:
- Moringa Prep: 5-week computer science fundamentals course that covers concepts foundational to all high-level programming languages
- Moringa School Core: various tracks (web, mobile) offered to students in a 19-week course (including professional development). The content is created based off of employer demand for such skills.
- Post-Moringa School: 40+ hiring partners (technology companies ready to hire our graduates)
We are also adopting a highly-innovative teaching methodology:
- Flipped classroom model (majority of content online), with advanced technical mentors answering students questions
- Tested learning management system that tracks the progress of students and alerts technical mentors to which students we need to work with more
- Paired programming and project-based learning
- Self-paced education, peer teaching
- Support from other students + supportive and strong alumni base
- Classroom culture centered around autonomy, ownership, reliability, and transparency through values of proactive participation and self-awareness
3. What’s the cost of the courses you offer?
The Moringa School course is valued at $6,000 in the US so we are already offering a steep discount, prorated to make it more affordable in Kenya. We guarantee that students will learn more practical, market-driven skills at Moringa than a 4-year college or university, so not only is our program shorter than universities, but it is also cheaper.
Moringa Prep Full-Time is Ksh. 35,000 and Part-Time is Ksh. 40,000. Moringa Core is Ksh. 100,000 if the student has gone through Moringa Prep.
4. Do you help successful graduates get placement after completing your course?
We have a hiring network of over 50 employers in Kenya. At the end of each cohort, we have a hiring fair, where we invite hiring partners to come in to see our students’ final presentations and begin the networking process.
5. How many people have graduated from Moringa School and what are some of the companies that they are working at?
Moringa School has graduated over 85 developers, who are working at companies like Safaricom, Barclays, Cellulant, Samasource and Craft Silicon.
6. What is the future of Moringa School in Kenya?
Moringa School plans to expand outside of Kenya to 2 more countries, and also begin offering other high-level skill sets relevant to various African markets. We currently have students applying from over 10 countries on the continent. The digital economy in Kenya and Africa is quickly progressing and we are excited to be at the forefront of building the backbone of tech ecosystems across Africa.
Moringa School has announced a call for applications for their next intake which will close on November 7. It is for their full-time Moringa Prep course (introduction to programming) which will run from November 14, 2016 – December 16, 2016 and its immersive, full-time Moringa Core (intensive, track-based program) which will run from January 2, 2017– May 12, 2017. Apply here to join Moringa School.