Fort School

Fort School is a data-driven solution, birthed by the increased need for virtual learning platforms that solve problems faced by a large of learners in Kenya. We took our time to read and analyze the data released by the KNBS and KNEC and realized the widening gap in the education sector in the country. This prompted us to think and come up with a cost-effective solution for the problem, after identifying major technology advancements in the country that could make the idea be a success.

From data released by the national examinations council, the number of Grade 8 graduates has been constantly increasing, averaging a 6.276% YoY increase. This means that within the next 5 years, the candidature will hit a million-plus. As of 2020, the number of High Schools in the country stood at 10,413, a decrease from 10,463 in the previous year. This will be a worrying trend if the candidature will continue growing YoY while the schools reduce in number. This might lead to congested classes in schools, or a lesser percentage in terms of primary school to high school transition, hence the need of expanding the education spots, possible by creating as many virtual schools as possible. Through the introduction of virtual schools, we will see a meaningful decongestion of classrooms in our schools.

Every learner wishes to attend a National school where he/she will get to be taught by the best teachers, using the best resources in the country. However, with only 103 National schools against more than 800,000 KCPE candidates, the scramble for high school positions is a tough one and only a few get lucky to be admitted there. We have however come up with an electronic learning platform where the top teachers teaching in National schools can host virtual classes and teach other students all over the country, or publish learning materials to them and thus helping the students in even schools access the same quality of education as in national schools.

Data from the Ministry of Education indicates that a girl that is absent from school for four days in 28 days (month) loses 13 learning days, equivalent to two weeks of learning in every school term. In an academic year (nine months) a girl loses 39 learning days equivalent to six weeks of learning time. A girl in primary school between grades 6 and 8 (three years) loses 18 learning weeks out of 108 weeks. Within the four years of high school, a girl can lose 156 learning days equivalent to almost 24 weeks out of 144 weeks of learning. We can however ensure there is equality in the learning time by adopting virtual learning whereby the girls can engage in learning even when they are unable to go to school physically. This solution also helps in the unfortunate events of schoolgirls getting pregnant, whereby they can always continue learning even when they can’t make it to school daily.

Fort school is tailored with society in mind, trying every way possible to give back to society and impact their lives positively. Here are the major contributions that the platform will have to society:

• Instilling equality in education by ensuring students can access top national teachers even when they did not manage to join the few national schools, and providing a platform for students who are not able to attend school due to inevitable circumstances, to catch up with the rest.
• Our platform promotes welfare for learners, whereby they can learn from the comfort of their houses whenever situations like Early pregnancy, insecurity, etc. prevent them from attending classes.
• The app provides a source of employment to thousands of teachers, giving them a platform to earn a living.
• Since there will be diverse interaction between students and teachers all over the country, they will build upon their social skills and networking.
• Through our app, we introduce an interactive mode of learning which is flexible, hence boosting productivity. (Either leaning at night or daytime)

Fort School is a consolidated learning platform offering access to a wide range of educative video content and interactive virtual classes for after-school and holiday learning.

Our learning platform offers content packages for students, teachers, and institutions.

As a student, you get access to:

1. Pre-recorded educative videos from top teachers in the country.
2. Live virtual classes
3. An interactive platform where you can ask questions and get answers from experts on the subject
4. Automatically marked quizzes after every video, with detailed reports and marking schemes

Fort School also has teachers at heart, providing a platform to make an extra coin out of your free time. As a teacher you will be able to:

1. Publish study materials for learners
2. Offer paid consultancy services.
3. Offer paid virtual live classes to thousands of students.
4. Offer tailored classes for students with special needs
5. Earn a lifetime commission for every student who signs up using your invite code.

New or existing schools can sign up on the platform and set up virtual learning spaces where they will be able to:

1. Invite teachers and students to their virtual school
2. Publish and manage learning materials
3. Schedule unlimited virtual classes offered by the best teachers in the country 

Fort school is tailored with society in mind, trying every way possible to give back to society and impact their lives positively. Here are the major contributions that the platform will have to society:

• Instilling equality in education by ensuring students can access top national teachers even when they did not manage to join the few national schools, and providing a platform for students who are not able to attend school due to inevitable circumstances, to catch up with the rest.
• Our platform promotes welfare for learners, whereby they can learn from the comfort of their houses whenever situations like Early pregnancy, insecurity, etc. prevent them from attending classes.
• The app provides a source of employment to thousands of teachers, giving them a platform to earn a living.
• Since there will be diverse interaction between students and teachers all over the country, they will build upon their social skills and networking.
• Through our app, we introduce an interactive mode of learning which is flexible, hence boosting productivity. (Either leaning at night or daytime)

We have a whole round team of data scientists, programmers who help us develop data-driven solutions for the project. We have also partnered with top teachers in the country, who have served for more than 10yrs and who give us in-depth advises on most areas of concern as far as education in the country is involved. 

After going through the benefits one gets from the Solver program, our solution will benefit from board development and talent sourcing together with guidance on how to penetrate foreign markets with our idea.