About Us
DirectEd Development (DirectEd) provide tuition-free world-class training in foundational digital skills, web development and frontier technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, Quantum Computing, Blockchain and Cybersecurity.Our highly selective rigorous 1-year-long training program prepares students for a career in the most sought-after digital skills on the market.We uniquely provide guaranteed internships with Western tech startups and a monthly stipend to cover living expenses!
Our programme
We are creating a impact pipeline with three steps.
Intro Course: an accessible 1-week-long remote course in Python, requiring only a mobile phone.
Bootcamp: an intensive 12-week full-stack coding using te JavaScript MERN framework.
Specialisation: during this 9-month-long segment, students work in development teams of 2-4 under the guidance of more senior engineers building products for tech startups. They also spend part of their time specialising in one of our four focus areas: Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain, Cybersecurity or Entrepreneurship.
We incorporate a range of evidence-backed elements from the behavioural research into our programme: growth mindset training, conditional and unconditional cash transfers, project-based learning and more.
Our Impact
In our first year of operations...
- 300+ students trained in basic coding through our intro course
- 40 students trained in our full-stack web development training
- 9x higher completion rate than typical online coding courses
- 50% of boot camp graduates in paid tech internships working with Western companies
Step-By-Step Process
1. Introductory Coding Course
We partner with top high schools in Kenya and Ethiopia. We then offer these students a free 1-week mobile phone-based remote coding course developed by us based in Harvard's CS50 Introduction to programming with Python.
2. Crowdfunding
To enable students who did well in the Introductory Course but who do not have a laptop and other resources needed to effectively participate in bootcamp, we run crowdfunding campaigns to finance Access Scholarships for these students.
Donations are made into Pools which can be earmarked for particular causes: alumni of a high school, gender or some other criteria. Access Scholarships are milestone-based meaning that they have to pass the monthly exams to continue to receive this support.
3. Bootcamp
After a merit-based selection process based on performance in the Intro Course, students enrol in a 12-week bootcamp. The BootCamp is free of charge and covers full-stack web development focusing on the JavaScript MERN stack.
4. Internship
Upon successfully completing our rigorous coding bootcamp, graduates interview for internships with our tech internship partners.
Stipends to support students through the internship
Specialization and advanced training
Tech entrepreneurship training
5. Employment
Once our students find employment as remote software engineers, we ask students to contribute part of their salary back to the same pool that financed their training, creating a self-perpetuating cycle of funding for future scholars.
6. Giving Back
Once our students are in high-paying tech jobs, it is time for them to start to pay it forward to support the next generation of students from their alma mater.