A Kenyan-based platform that has taken homeschooling to the next level, has been featured among Africa's most disruptive tech startups.
According to Disrupt Africa, a website that profiles game-changing start-ups in the continent, Sunrise Homeschooling has revolutionized the concept that gained popularity during the pandemic in 2020.
The learning materials offered are approved by the Kenya Literature Bureau (KLB), East African Educational Publishers Ltd, The Jomo Kenyatta Foundation, and Oxford University Press East Africa.
The platform ensures that the teachers have a minimum of five years of experience and are registered by the Teachers Service Commission (TSC).
Although it initially began as a tutoring center in 2016 offering a face-to-face learning experience between student and tutor, Sunrise Homeschooling has now turned into a successful online learning platform offering learners comprehensive learning materials.
Ben Kairu the institution's CEO, narrated that after the government laid out measures that hindered in-person meetings, the startup had to reinvent itself to deal with the changing times.
“When the pandemic hit, there were so many inquiries, and since we could no longer continue with an in-person tutorship, we had to innovate around ways to continue offering services to our customers."
“At the initial stages, we tried using Google Classroom, but they were so limited and we decided to develop our portal," Kairu recalled.
Sunrise Homeschooling is a real school only that it operates virtually - unlike learning assistance sites that just offer revision materials and test quizzes.
Kairu intimated that the institution gives parents value for their money as it offers more than the two Kenya-approved curriculums it also offers international curriculums like British IGCSE, American curriculum, and Accelerated Christian Education (ACE).
He emphasized that the high-quality, affordable, and convenient learning materials from international curriculums give the learners a chance to qualify for international universities.
The self-funded company has attracted students from over 15 different countries according to Kairu. He adds that their satisfied clients give referrals to other people thus contributing to the growing number of students enrolling in classes.
“We have students from the US, all the way to China, and in-between. It’s a virtual product and accessible to students across the globe. There has been some technicality that comes with time differences, but we are amid a solution that we shall be launching soon,” he explained.
Traditional schooling was disrupted by the pandemic when the government enforced a lockdown that saw students stay home for at least nine months. Online learning gained popularity and Kairu described the reception as ‘mind-blowing’ from the start.
The entrepreneur confidently states that the world cannot resist the upcoming revolution. Traditional schooling will no longer work for the tech-savvy generation that fancies new things in line with global trends.
