Children's Day: These Edtech Start-Ups Are Making Education Simple and Fun For Kids While the education system predominantly includes classroom education provided in schools, colleges and universities, of late online lectures and mock examinations are being increasingly adopted by students to stay ahead of their class

"Children are like buds in a garden and should be carefully and lovingly nurtured, as they are the future of the nation and the citizens of tomorrow. Only through right education, can a better order of society be built up."

—Jawaharlal Nehru

From the ancient gurukula system to online education, the system has undergone several transitions. The current system predominantly includes classroom education provided in schools, colleges and universities. However, online lectures and mock examinations are now being increasingly adopted by students to stay ahead. On this Children's Day, let us look at entrepreneurs focused on making education a simple, fun and engaging for the future generation.

"It's time for parents to embrace e-learning, and introduce their children to a classroom free of judgement and full of curiosity. There are over 300 million children of school-going age in India, and only learning apps can personalise learning for every child, helping them learn better," said Zishaan Hayath, CEO and founder, Toppr.

Divya Gokulnath, co-founder of edtech unicorn Byju's, believes it is important to bring back the "childlike curiosity" in children. "Curiosity is one of the most underrated attributes today, yet one of the most important," she said, adding that this Children's Day, adults should take a pledge. "A pledge to never curb curiosity and give children a new kind of freedom—the freedom to learn without fear."

Development of technology is also making education a more interactive experience for children, thereby increasing their engagement rather than one-way classroom lectures. "The advent of technology is trying to change the archaic model of education. By using technology, teachers and home-schoolers can get real-time feedback which will help them better understand students," said Divya Jain, co-founder and CEO, Safeducate.

Related Story: How Technology Is Bringing Quality, Low-Cost Education To Everyone

Need For Education To Be Engaging

One of the most vital aspects to be realised is that not all children are the same. They have different capabilities, capacities, viewpoints and ideas. Classroom learning mostly generalizes the need of every different student as it would be near-impossible for a teacher to attend every student individually in such a setting.

The collective learning set-up can also be discouraging for some students to open up and clarify their doubts. Online learning takes care of these issues making students engage better with teachers and enjoy the process of learning. Apart from this, visual and video lessons also make studies interesting and fun for students.

"Every time a student hesitates to clarify a doubt, rote learns a topic, or feels overwhelmed by the number of reference books, the coaching system is failing them. The current education scenario is extremely competitive, especially if a child aims for top universities. With high competition and a vast syllabus, we don't want to see any child struggling in coaching," Hayath explained.

According to Shobhit Bhatnagar, CEO and co-founder, Gradeup, every student deserves an equal opportunity to build a bright future, and online learning is opening up several avenues thereby empowering them to fulfil it themselves. "By enhancing engagement, providing the best resources and expert guidance, the education ecosystem has the potential to shift from being curriculum-centric to becoming student-centric."

Reaching Remote Areas

"Edtech platforms have brought disruption and helped students including women to study in the remotest area. They are hand holding students with regular feedback, 24x7 doubt assistance and refined quality content which you can also study even if you are offline. Service and offering like YouTube channel has played an important role in the life of students. They can learn, study and even access free content," said Anil Nagar, co-founder and CEO, Adda247.

As per Bhatnagar, the traditional education system in India is still largely fragmented with access and affordability of quality education being limited by geographical boundaries or financial standing. "This holds true for private tuitions and coaching centres as well. Here is where edtech has emerged as one of the most viable alternatives for democratised access to affordable and quality education."

Start-ups such as Odisha-based ThinkZone is bringing the rural-urban divide by providing edtech solutions in rural India. The start-up uses an innovative solution called School-in-a-box. It offers an app which provides study material for students across classes such as nursery and grade school in the form of games, puzzles and videos.

With the increasing penetration of the Internet and smartphones, and with more such edtech platforms coming up, it is only going to get better for kids in the educational space.