Acquire Data Science skills or some other tech skills at a heavily discounted one-off price between 10,000 – 25,000 Naira. Take this offer before it ends, go to https://bit.ly/3yGPq5j
Ustacky Top-ten Scholars And Their Cash Prizes: A Story of Scholarship, Learning and a Promise.
Recently, Ustacky made good on its promise to reward ten of its best performing scholarship students a cash prize of N50,000 each, totalling N500,00 in cash prizes. But for those who have been following the activities of this edtech company so far, this is not an unexpected gesture.
Since around January this year, Ustacky has distinguished itself as a leading edtech platform in Africa and has made some notable strides in democratizing tech education. Before its emergence on the scene, the state of online tech education presented a fish-out-of-water scenario for many Africans.
Before Ustacky, most Africans willing to learn tech skills online have unwillingly come to terms with one nagging reality: the available online courses are not cheap. Even when they are affordable, the quality is often poor and the quantity is often scanty.
Despite the setbacks usually presented by such handicaps, what some regarded as the biggest problem was that online resources that scored well on quality and quantity are often not taught by African authors and are replete with lessons that do not fit African/Nigerian contexts, in addition to being expensive.
For many, Ustacky came as a lifesaver. When it officially launched its operation in January, it made no secret of its Africanness. Launching a collection of online Microdegrees (its brand name for bundles of curated tech courses) in software development and data science, Ustacky has so far been able to use them to prove that Africans can also have it all as far as online tech education delivery is concerned.
For one, its Microdegrees are affordable. Secondly, the contents are taught by African authors and presented in African/Nigerian contexts. Thirdly, the contents they made are very high in quality and are also available on major devices, and fourthly, their course contents are self-paced and flexible.
Heads turned.
Ustacky made no secret of its deliberate policy to create an edtech company that will singularly fill the yearning of Africans in the sphere of affordability while not alienating international audiences with its quality. Judging from what came after, it was a remarkable success.
First came a free internship program, but by February, it had launched its Microdgree Scholarship to massive publicity; a program to award free enrollment (and scholarship) for its software development and data science Microdegrees. Over 6000 applied from all over Nigeria, Africa and beyond.
Today, it is the ten best-performing students from that scholarship programme that have just been awarded the N50,000 cash prize each.
These students have come a long way. After all, they managed to be among the top ten students out of the two thousand students that were eventually admitted for the scholarship. One thing is clear though: their success story is the success story of Ustacky.
When Yusuf Ajadi (Frontend Developer), Adebayo Hildred (Data Scientist), Hussaini Muhammad Auwal (Fullstack Developer), Paul Akinyemi (Frontend Developer), Emmanuel Ebiendele (Data Scientist), Margaret Awojide (Data Scientist), Gabriel Ako (Data Scientist), Halimat Atanda (Data Scientist), Adeleye Emmanuel (Data Scientist) and Adam Usman (Fullstack Developer) were admitted for the scholarship in March, like every other student, they simply took Ustacky up on its words and promises. The platform promised to teach them industry-relevant software development and data science skills and reward the best ten students at the end of the scholarship, but amazingly, it also announced that the scholarship students will have access to all features of Ustacky’s Microdegrees throughout the period of their scholarship. In fact, the features of Ustacky’s Microdegrees are worth an essay in itself.
Students not only have access to the high-quality video content provided in the Ustacky Microdegree but what they are learning through the video will also be reinforced by plenty of quizzes and assessments already distributed throughout the courses that constitute a typical Microdegree all at an affordable price.
The platform also has mentors employed to give guidance and help solve students’ learning problems. Yet, Ustacky freely deployed the services of its Mentors to the need of the Microdegree Scholarship students, who also did not shy away from availing themselves of their Mentor’s help throughout the scholarship, especially on the site’s Discussion Forums; which are dedicated platforms where students can interact with each other and also with their mentors.
Another distinguishing feature of Ustacky Microdegrees is the capstone projects that come with them. They are real-life-based projects designed to make students put what they have learned into real-life applications. It is the ultimate test of a student’s ability and it inevitably separates the best students from the rest.
For Ustacky’s students though, submitting a project is just the beginning of having a taste of other Ustacky features. Firstly, the capstone projects are reviewed by in-house professional code reviewers. But usually, while this is being done, the students are run through another unique feature of Ustacky: a course that will teach them the ropes of getting a job and setting up a career when they finish – complete with resume review. This one equally has its project too, which are also reviewed by Ustacky’s in-house professional reviewers.
Today, what we are all seeing is the group of ten best students going home with cash prizes, but this is bigger for the students than the casual observer can see. These winners are also free beneficiaries of two Ustacky features that non-scholarship students would have paid to be eligible for; namely certificates at the end of their Microdegree, and an assurance from Ustacky to give them an opportunity to work for the platform as code reviewers.
Four months long and Ustacky fully delivered on its promises not only to these students but to everyone aspiring to learn software development and Data Science online. It has provided high-quality video content, quizzes and assessments to reinforce learning, mentorship, discussion forums, capstone projects to validate what students learn, professional code reviews, career guides and resume review to make its students job-ready, certificate on completion of Microdegree and an opportunity to work for Ustacky as a code reviewer all at an affordable price.
Ustacky has done all these with the spirit of creating more qualified tech professionals in Africa and training them so well as to make them competitive against other tech professionals on the world stage. In what seems like a feat of magic, it has moved skill levels from zero to world-class in the software development and data science arena, and in the case of these ten scholarship students, with an additional N50,000 to take home to momma!
Now, you too can acquire these skills at a heavily discounted one-off price between 10,000 – 25,000 Naira. Take this offer before it ends, go to https://bit.ly/3yGPq5j
Learn more about Ustacky. Go to https://ustacky.com