Coronavirus (COVID-19) has created a lot of hassle around the world. It has affected every sector. Furthermore, COVID-19 has changed how students are educated around the world.
Amid coronavirus outbreak, the Indian government has shut down schools during March-April, which are the crucial months as the exams are held at this time. This has highly impacted students’ academic growth. State governments are closing down educational institutions as a precautionary measure, resulting in the disruption of studies.
Last week, UNESCO announced that 13 countries have closed schools, affecting over 290 million children, while nine other countries have implemented localized closures. Tapping the right opportunity with 250 million school-going students in India, it is of paramount importance that their health is protected while also ensuring that their education is not interrupted.
With this uncertainty on the horizon, educational institutions around the world are shifting to online learning. UNESCO also suggested that learning platforms can help students access quality education remotely during times like these.
Startups such as EduBrisk, upGrad, Vedantu, BYJU’S, and Toppr are providing various online courses for free.
For example, taking the current situation into consideration, EduBrisk, a brain-friendly educational solutions platform to schools and students, has also stood up to help the students. They have started training teachers for free so that they can use EduBrisk’s platform for e-teaching during this time of Coronavirus and have also started providing free demo accounts to students who have exams or who need to complete their syllabus on high priority.
Similarly, in order to extend support during the COVID-19 pandemic, upGrad announced the access of the company’s ‘Live Platform’ to all colleges and universities free of cost. ‘upGrad Live’ is the company tech platform that replicates a real-time classroom learning experience by providing much greater interactivity, real-time doubt resolution, in-class concept check and session analytics to gauge live session performances. Through this initiative, upGrad is providing free access to this Live Platform to the affected academic institutes.
Ronnie Screwvala, Executive Chairman & Co-Founder, upGrad, said, “We acknowledge the disruption in learning which learners and educational institutes face due to shut down amid COVID-19 concerns. In the past few days, we have read that many global universities have taken their classes online to avoid large gatherings. Schools and colleges in many cities in India too have been asked to shut down. To minimize the effects of this disruption, we have opened up our Live Platform to educational institutions and universities FREE of COST.”
Also, Vedantu, a pioneer in LIVE online tutoring in India, is offering support to students, parents, and schools in Bengaluru, New Delhi, Kerala and Hyderabad to provide free access to its complete learning platform. Vedantu will offer Free access to all LIVE classes of Vedantu Master Teachers, Study Material, Tests & Assignments, LIVE Doubts feature during this outbreak, where students & parents can be rest assured as they can continue their learning from the safety of their homes.
As the pandemic of COVID-19 grips the world, Vamsi Krishna, CEO and Co-Founder, Vedantu, stated, “At Vedantu, we believe that best quality education should be accessible to everyone, anytime. We believe Online Learning is a safe option in these risky & uncertain times. The students can study from the safety of their home and avoid travel and public places.”
“We are constantly working on solutions that will drive evolution, fundamentally changing the pattern of teaching and learning today. We are here to support by making our platform free during this crucial time. We are closely monitoring the impact of COVID-19 and are here to assist students & schools with all their learning needs,” Krishna added.
COVID-19 has become a catalyst for educational institutions worldwide to search for innovative solutions in a relatively short period of time. Therefore, an edtech revolution is brewing in India. This situation seems quite similar to Nov 8, 2016, when digital payments companies became mainstream in India overnight after the government suddenly decided to demonetize two high-value currency notes. Now, education technology (edtech) firms are hoping for an encore in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak.
