The notion that schools today are not keeping pace with changes outside, regardless of the industry but in particular the tech industry, is neither ground-breaking nor novel. What is innovative, however, is a school that purports to churn out not just students with a degree or diploma in hand, but “work-ready, in-demand students with advanced critical thinking abilities.
Forward School was established in Penang last year after it raised a pre-seed funding of US$500,000 from five angel investors – Chan Kee Siak, CEO of Exabytes Group; Chu Jenn Weng, CEO of ViTrox Corp; Chiew Kok Hin, CEO, AIMS Group; Ang Siak Keng, partner, Zaid Ibrahim & Co; and Brian A. Wong, managing director, Seacliff Partners.
One of the school’s key programme is the two-year NitroDegree in Applied Software Engineering where qualified students will study and work under the sponsorship of key local tech players with a job placement guaranteed and a minimum starting salary of US$724 (RM3,000).
“Forward School is a revolutionary new school that focuses on expertise and skills, not paper qualifications. Tertiary education today can be over-academised and as both an investor and industry leader, I trust Forward School has what it takes to lead us in charting a new model of higher education in science and technology innovation.” said investor Chan of Exabytes Group.
Howie Chang (pictured), Forward School’s founder, chats with Web in Travel about what led him to this new venture, his vision for the school and how this startup intends to change the conversations around education and real-world learning.
What was the catalyst for you to start Forward School?
There is a severe mismatch in quality of tech graduates being produced versus the actual demands of the tech industry. As the rate of technological development continues to accelerate faster than traditional schools and universities can deal with, certain subjects become obsolete once students graduate from a three- or four-year programme. These are the reasons that motivated me to start Forward School.
National and international demand for students with innovative digital and creative skills will only continue to expand as Industry 4.0 sweeps the globe.
The challenge is not just for individuals to keep pace with technological developments but for learning institutions to lead the way. I set out to design a new, revolutionary technology school that I wish had existed when I was a student. I am glad it now exists in Penang and soon it will also be found throughout South East Asia’s major cities.
Can you condense the idea of Forward in a few sentences?
Our mission is to deliver cutting-edge, real-world learning experiences that equip our students for success in the global tech sector and our vision, to become South-East Asia’s leading future skills academy by developing work-ready, in-demand students with advanced critical thinking abilities.
Did you identify a gap that is a global one?
Definitely a global one. It doesn’t matter where you are in the world, there is always a need for digital skills workers.
Is this an easy sell to investors and the community? Have large global tech companies been very responsive and excited about Forward?
We are solving a pressing issue which is to address the widening severity mismatch between what the industry is looking for versus what they learn in school. We currently have more than 15 hiring partners and will grow that number to a hundred more by end of this year as we ramp things up. We will need to prove ourselves before any large global tech companies come knocking. This is, after all, our first year.
Tell me more about the co-learning, co-living concept. Why is that important to do in the context of your school’s mission? Is the co-living compulsory for all your students?
We have an intense two-year programme during which we highly encourage students to live in. The reason is simply this: there is power in being single-mindedly focused in pursuing the path to excellence, and we sincerely believe that living on campus will give students the opportunity to form networks and connections with like-minded people in the community. Besides, our co-living space is not just for students. We welcome anyone who is in the business, creative, marketing and technology sector to use the facilities.
Is there another school in the world that you model this after? If not, is your model something that can and should be exported to other parts of the world?
We are a combination of General Assembly + MakeSchool + HolbertonSchool. But we also emphasise the building up of a robust community.
It has been said the new graduate needs to create his/her own job rather than find one. Thoughts?
I find that to be true but at the same time, I think education today is overly academic. We need more applied education. One can’t create a job if the focus is on paper qualifications and not on skills and expertise.
Even in technical fields, how important is it to be entrepreneurial and will Forward be coaching in that direction?
In our two-year NitroDegree programme, we do cover Entrepreneurship. It is important to have an entreprenuerial mind.
How many students are you able to take in? How big was your initial intake? What are your plans to scale up?
We are very much just getting started. We aim to have 30 students for our first cohort in June for our two-year NitroDegree in Applied Software Engineering. That being said, we too will be ramping up our membership programme where we hope to make digital skills accessible to everyone who is keen to learn. Think “Gym for the Mind”. Get more info here.
Fundraising will continue? What is the goal for the immediate future?
Yes, we will be raising our pre-series A round end of this year. The goal right now is to ensure our students are coveted after and grow our memberships and engagements with the industry. Working hand-in-hand with the industry is crucial and key for us.
Chang will also be on stage to share his vision at the upcoming WiT Indie event in Penang on March 13. Register now.
