The story of Byju Raveendran is one with true inspiration. Byju’s online learning content service claims based on a study they conducted that 94% of Indian students prefer learning on their smartphones. He was born in a farmer family in Kerala. His family believed and valued education and even though he was keener towards sports he fulfilled his family’s expectations by getting a degree in engineering.
He worked for several years as an engineer in a shipping company. However, one incidence made him want to be a teacher and transformed his life. He taught some of his close friends for CAT examination and his efforts prepared them successfully to crack the exam which is considered to be the toughest one in India. With this, he was surrounded by many students seeking help. And there were numerous requests for him to start a coaching class and he agreed to help them.
Within no time Byju’s classes became highly popular, this made him leave his job and travel different cities to take tuitions. It became difficult when he received calls from students belonging to different cities and he had to travel between many locations. One fine day an idea struck him which revolutionized the education industry. He decided to take help of internet and coached thousands of students from a central location at same the time.
In 2015, Byju launched the BYJU’s learning application. The app provides study material for different examinations such as CAT, NEET, civil service exams, GRE and GMAT etc. Not only were students spellbound with his idea but even major investors were attracted here by raising funds in crores.
In 2016, BYJU’s received $50 million fund from the Chan-Zuckerberg foundation. It is an philantrophic organization formed by the founder of Facebook Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan. According to Byju, the BYJU’s classes allows students to easily grasp the complex concepts, lets friends help each other and finish chapters effortlessly.
A large chunk of Indian population are still dpreived of access to quality education. In such situations, Byju’s app reaches a large number of population and provides them with valuable education.
(Photo Credit: Livemint, Faad Times, Mathrubhumi)
