Darasa APP is an Ed-tech platform innovatively developed to make education easier by simplifying the assessment process for teachers, grading work done by students automatically, and providing valuable insights for teachers, students, and parents. It is specifically tailored to meet the needs of Kenyan CBC and 8-4-4 curricula, bridging the gap between traditional learning and modern digital education.
Founded by Brian Gachare and Chris Kamande, Darasa App is partnering with tablet companies that supply education tablets to schools to make accessibility of our app easier. Darasa App is also planning to expand to other curricula, like Cambridge and even go beyond Kenya and onboard other countries to use Darasa as their preferred assessment option.
TechMoran caught up with Brian Gachare, co-founder and CEO Darasa App on what inspired its launch and the company’s plans for the year 2025 and beyond.
How Does Darasa Work?
- Creating & Managing Assessments: Teachers can create and assign assessments organized by strands and sub-strands to catering to individual student needs and learning styles ensuring improved student outcomes.
- Student Engagement & Instant Feedback: Students take assessments directly on the platform and receive immediate feedback including detailed explanations of questions attempted.
- Automated Grading & Performance Insights: The system auto-grades assessments and delivers data-driven analytics with valuable insights on student performance and CBC-aligned psychometric insights.
- Parental Involvement: Parents can get knowledge about their child’s progress through performance reports and insights, creating better involvement in the whole learning process.
What inspired you to create Darasa?
Darasa means “Class” in Swahili, born out of a passion to educate.
We started Darasa in the heart of 2020 Covid pandemic with a goal of impacting learners across Africa. With learners at home, and with little or no access to learning resources, we built an E-learning platform so that our children could access good quality enhancing content- we build a platform that would be relevant even after the pandemic.
How big is the problem you are solving?
In our previous interactions with teachers, one of the things we noticed they struggle in acquiring quality exams, struggle to quickly access and assess student understanding, provide personalized feedback, and make data-driven decisions. Current assessment methods are often time-consuming, subjective, and lack the insights needed to truly optimize learning. With a lot to read, learners need a leveled ground with personalized insights to help them improve their grades.
Do you think Kenya is ready for e-learning?
Kenya is only partially ready for e-learning. In addition, full adoption requires improvement in infrastructure, Internet access, training of teachers, and inclusive digital policies. Probably, the most feasible approach at this point is a blended learning model: mixing online and offline methods of learning.
How unique are you from the rest of the edtech players in the market?
Brian
While many edtech platforms in Kenya emphasize digital innovation and broad accessibility, Darasa.app’s unique value proposition lies in its extensive collection of curriculum-aligned questions, particularly its repository of over 100,000 questions spanning both the 8-4-4 and CBC systems. This specialization makes it a valuable tool for educators seeking to create customized assessments that align with national educational standards.
What’s the biggest challenge Darasa is facing right now and how are you solving it?
Our biggest challenge is many of the teachers and students we target are not aware of the product. Those who eventually become aware of the product are abit hesitant in using it, either because they were not tech survey, or they were just used to the old way of doing things.
What do you think about the Kenya edtech landscape at the moment?
The EdTech industry is rapidly evolving, driven by technological advances and changing learner, educator, and institutional needs. Darasa.app has position itself as a leader by aligning solutions that empower schools, teachers, and students. With a focus on innovation, accessibility, and impact, Darasa.app delivers unparalleled value to the education ecosystem.
Why quality exams and not quality education materials like on Coursera, Khan Academy among the rest?
After interviewing Teachers from our user base, we realized how teachers struggle to quickly access and assess students. The amount of time taken to create just one assessment, understanding student needs, provide personalized feedback, and make data-driven decisions. We made it our mission to make assessment creation easier and offer insights on student performance to help teachers concentrate on the learning needs of each student.
What else do you offer to teachers and students apart from interactions and quality exams?
Darasa delivers data-driven analytics with valuable insights on student performance and CBC-aligned psychometric insights, catering to individual student needs and learning styles.
There are hundreds of private pupils and students taking private classes and exams in Kenya. How do you plan to help them?
With over 100k questions in our database, private learners are able to practice and assess their understanding in diverse subjects and topics within the Kenyan CBC and 8.4.4 curricula. With the use of resources available on Darasa.app, private learners in Kenya will have greater capability in learning and with confidence understanding concepts and improving performance in private classes and exams.
Any plans to have a vetted tutor-student portal connecting tutors to students to learn at their own pace?
Part of our future enhancements is to get teachers to give live lessons to their students in the system.
What offline-online strategy are you using to onboard more users?
We are currently visiting schools and pitching to teachers and school directors about the app, explaining how it will benefit them. Additionally, we attend various education events to continue building awareness about our products and services.
Any plans to register as a KNEC/KASNEB exam or learning center?
Yes. We see Darasa being the preferred assessment stop for all learners doing assessments digitally with instant feedback which can be used even for National exams.
Any integrations with online learning platforms such as BLCKBOARD, Zoom Edu etc to allow learn remote learning?
We are partnering with tablet companies that supply education tablets to schools to make accessibility of our app easier.
Chris
Any plans to go beyond the primary school level of education?
Yes, we plan to expand to other curricula, like Cambridge and even go beyond Kenya and on board other countries to use darasa as their preferred assessment option.
How important is social media and AI to Darasa in serving its customers?
Social media and AI are very important to Darasa. Social media helps us to engage with our audience, spread awareness, and receive feedback. AI plays a crucial role in personalizing the learning experience and making our platform more efficient and user-friendly.
Any partnerships to make access to education easy like with Internet Service providers, YouTube etc?
We are partnering with tablet companies that supply education tablets to schools to make accessibility of our app easier.
