<p>An online school founded by an IIT graduate is running courses in coding. Students pay no fees to sign up and study. They pay only after they complete the course and find employment.</p><p>Called Masai School, it was started by Prateek Shukla in Bengaluru in 2019. So far, over 5,000 of their students have graduated from the school and found jobs as software engineers and data analysts after. </p><p>“While pursuing my degree, I interned at Teach for India, an NGO which works with municipality schools across the country. At one such school in Pune, I saw a young boy directing a Shakespeare play. His talent was impressive and I realised that this country has immense untapped potential,” says Shukla, an alumnus of IIT Kanpur. </p>.<p><strong>How it works</strong></p><p>Students can sign up for three courses — full stack web development, data analytics, and software testing and automation. Possible job opportunities on completing the course range from full stack developer and data engineer to QA tester and machine learning engineer. </p><p>A course runs for 25-30 weeks. The classes are rigorous and take up about 12 hours of the students’ time in a day. Shukla and his team have also introduced two courses, with shorter study days, in partnership with IIT Guwahati and IIT Mandi. All courses lay emphasis on AI. “That is because AI is the future,” he says. </p><p>Students begin paying their fees only after placement, and only if their yearly salary crosses the Rs 3.5 lakh mark. If they don’t find a job, they don’t pay, says Shukla. The monthly instalments vary according to the salary package. Those earning Rs 3.5 lakh to Rs 4.99 lakh pay about Rs 7,000 for three years, those earning Rs 5 lakh to Rs 9.99 lakh pay Rs 10,000, and so on. Dropouts are required to pay a fee depending on when they decide to leave the course. Those dropping out within the first six weeks don’t pay anything.</p><p> “We found that most students graduating from tech schools don’t have the skills required for their jobs. Tech is a fast-paced world and it is important to keep up with the changes,” Shukla says.</p><p>Monthly meetings with chief technology officers of top companies <br>ensure the course material is updated regularly. The school has an office in HSR Layout, and the courses are taught by experienced software professionals from across India. “All faculty, 120 full-time and 300 part-time, go through a four-week training programme before they interact with the students,” he reveals.</p><p>On May 17, Masai will launch a new course ‘AI for Bharat’ in partnership with IIT Ropar, and the government-run National Skill Development Corporation.</p>.Student develops system to control PC racing games with hand gestures.<p><strong>Success stories</strong></p><p>Aman Kashyap, from Kanpur, worked as a Swiggy delivery agent before enrolling at Masai. He now works as a software engineer at the food delivery aggregator.</p><p>Bengaluru-based Mohammed Tanveer had dropped out of school after Class 5. The Masai graduate is currently employed as a software engineer at a digital marketing company.</p><p>There are some less dramatic success stories too, such as that of Puja Kumari, who finished her secondary education in Jharkhand before joining Masai. She currently works as a frontend developer at an online real estate company in Bengaluru.</p><p>For details, visit masaischool.com</p>
<p>An online school founded by an IIT graduate is running courses in coding. Students pay no fees to sign up and study. They pay only after they complete the course and find employment.</p><p>Called Masai School, it was started by Prateek Shukla in Bengaluru in 2019. So far, over 5,000 of their students have graduated from the school and found jobs as software engineers and data analysts after. </p><p>“While pursuing my degree, I interned at Teach for India, an NGO which works with municipality schools across the country. At one such school in Pune, I saw a young boy directing a Shakespeare play. His talent was impressive and I realised that this country has immense untapped potential,” says Shukla, an alumnus of IIT Kanpur. </p>.<p><strong>How it works</strong></p><p>Students can sign up for three courses — full stack web development, data analytics, and software testing and automation. Possible job opportunities on completing the course range from full stack developer and data engineer to QA tester and machine learning engineer. </p><p>A course runs for 25-30 weeks. The classes are rigorous and take up about 12 hours of the students’ time in a day. Shukla and his team have also introduced two courses, with shorter study days, in partnership with IIT Guwahati and IIT Mandi. All courses lay emphasis on AI. “That is because AI is the future,” he says. </p><p>Students begin paying their fees only after placement, and only if their yearly salary crosses the Rs 3.5 lakh mark. If they don’t find a job, they don’t pay, says Shukla. The monthly instalments vary according to the salary package. Those earning Rs 3.5 lakh to Rs 4.99 lakh pay about Rs 7,000 for three years, those earning Rs 5 lakh to Rs 9.99 lakh pay Rs 10,000, and so on. Dropouts are required to pay a fee depending on when they decide to leave the course. Those dropping out within the first six weeks don’t pay anything.</p><p> “We found that most students graduating from tech schools don’t have the skills required for their jobs. Tech is a fast-paced world and it is important to keep up with the changes,” Shukla says.</p><p>Monthly meetings with chief technology officers of top companies <br>ensure the course material is updated regularly. The school has an office in HSR Layout, and the courses are taught by experienced software professionals from across India. “All faculty, 120 full-time and 300 part-time, go through a four-week training programme before they interact with the students,” he reveals.</p><p>On May 17, Masai will launch a new course ‘AI for Bharat’ in partnership with IIT Ropar, and the government-run National Skill Development Corporation.</p>.Student develops system to control PC racing games with hand gestures.<p><strong>Success stories</strong></p><p>Aman Kashyap, from Kanpur, worked as a Swiggy delivery agent before enrolling at Masai. He now works as a software engineer at the food delivery aggregator.</p><p>Bengaluru-based Mohammed Tanveer had dropped out of school after Class 5. The Masai graduate is currently employed as a software engineer at a digital marketing company.</p><p>There are some less dramatic success stories too, such as that of Puja Kumari, who finished her secondary education in Jharkhand before joining Masai. She currently works as a frontend developer at an online real estate company in Bengaluru.</p><p>For details, visit masaischool.com</p>