Stories
Hossam Taher was no stranger to the pains of having to understand and tackle difficult subjects during his educational journey. Having graduated from a German private school in Egypt and obtaining one of Europe’s most challenging high school diplomas, he went on to study medicine at Egypt’s leading medical school. So, to say the least, he knew a thing or two about struggling with a subject at school, or having a bit of a hard time understanding it.
And his journey is not the exception, but the norm. Millions of students globally suffer during their educational years due to wrangling themselves through subjects that don’t speak to them. Sometimes it’s a problem with the teacher. Sometimes it’s a natural inclination. But mostly, it’s that every brain functions differently – and thus, learns and understands differently.
But if that’s the case, then why don’t teachers focus on the needs of each student and address them separately? Well, mostly because they’re usually overworked, but also “notoriously underpaid,” according to Senior Investment Associate at Acasia Ventures Mohamed Hussain. Having a class of 20-30 students that need to be guided through complicated subject matters certainly does not help. And teaching standardized curricula through standardized teaching methods most certainly hampers the unleashing of each student’s potential. “Adding to that, teachers generally do not get the income they deserve,” Hossam says.
When Hossam and his cofounder Amira Elgharib, along with their founding team members Mohamed Khallaf and Shams Adly started a babysitting agency during their university years to help parents find vetted babysitters for their children, they quickly became accustomed to requests that included the need for tutoring services. Parents were generally on the lookout for babysitters that spoke certain languages, like German or French, in order to practice the language with their children, or they asked for tutors that could help with maths and science homework assignments, for example. “When I first met Hossam and Amira all those years ago, I was amazed at how successful and impactful their model was with so little resources at their disposal. I was even more excited to dream with them how much more impact this could have at scale if we leveraged technology and switched to a digital solution” says Aly El Shalakany, Managing Partner of Acasia Ventures.
And with that came the idea of bringing a new entity to the market: Orcas. Orcas’ mission is to become a personalized one-to-one online school where each student is matched with their own teacher and learning path. The tech behind it all allows teachers to specify learning paths with milestones and gamified question banks for their students, breaking the notorious barrier of a standardized teaching method for all. Today, Orcas offers customized tutoring services to 10,000 students enrolled in American and British high school diplomas through a network of 1,000 vetted and reviewed tutors.
The concept allows students to learn at their own pace and in a way that best suits how their brain is wired – with outstanding results. “We’ve heard it multiple times from students: Learning with Orcas made them love the subjects they initially hated,” Hossam says. Parents or students can sign up to the platform, input their needs, choose from a list of reviewed teachers, and book the ones they choose.
And it allows teachers to have a financially rewarding professional journey. “My favourite feeling is when our teachers share the memories they were able to make thanks to the income they got from Orcas,” he adds. Teaching through Orcas has made tutors more financially stable, enabling them to buy flats and cars, for instance. “And that’s the ultimate goal: To provide education in a sustainable way,” Hossam concludes.
