"BYJU’S 'Education for All' initiative has been working to democratise education"

With an aim to democratise education and bring quality learning to every child across the country, BYJU'S had launched its social initiative BYJU'S Education for All in 2020. Started with an initial aim to reach 5 million children by 2025, the initiative has already impacted 3.4 million students. Aiming to reach 10 million children now, with 100+ NGO partners and programs launched in 26 states, this initiative has been affecting change at the grassroots level within a year of its launch.

BYJU’S ‘Education for All’ focuses on bridging the educational and digital divide across the country by making quality learning accessible to children in need. With 110+ NGO partners and programs launched in 26 states, this initiative has been working towards bringing a positive change at the grassroots level within a year of its launch.

To commemorate one year of the initiative, BYJU’S has launched a digital film to showcase the reach, journey, and phenomenal positive changes that Education For All has brought in the lives of over 3.4 million students across the country through accessible digital learning for all.

In an exclusive conversation with Adgully, Vineet Singh, Vice President - Brand and Creative Strategy, and Mansi Kasliwal, Vice President - Social Initiatives, BYJU’S, speak at length about this education initiative and their special digital film and using this digital film to increase awareness across the length and breadth of the country, as well as and how they plan to democratise education in India.

Spreading the need for education across geography is a good initiative from BYJU’S. How did this CSR thought germinated to align with education leveraging technology?

Mansi Kasliwal: BYJU’S was started with a vision to make quality education accessible to every student in the country. At BYJU’S, we understood that while the digital divide is a reality that will always be present, we need to take into account the inequities and disparities that exist in the physical world that are a much bigger hurdle to solve. In 2020, when the pandemic hit us, many children were deprived of basic education because of schools being shut and social distancing norms being practised. While technology rose to the occasion to provide industries with viable solutions to meet the need of the hour, there were pockets in the country where there was no access to education.

Launched in late 2020, BYJU’S ‘Education for All’ initiative has been working to democratise education by making digital learning and quality education accessible to children across all underserved communities. With this initiative, we want to empower children across the country, even those in remote areas through our tech-driven learning programmes.

How did you go about partnering and identifying the right NGOs to accomplish your goals? What is the role of NGOs in this entire journey?

Mansi Kasliwal: We wanted to reach the remotest parts of the country and make quality learning accessible to children even in the underserved areas. To accomplish this, since launch, we have onboarded 110+ strong and impactful partners across 26 states. NGOs such as The American India Foundation (AIF), Magic Bus, Save the Children, United Way, Akshaya Patra, Isha Vidyalaya, CRY Foundation, Ramakrishna Mission Schools, Idea Foundation, etc., are part of BYJU’S ‘Education For All’. Working with these partners has helped us reach millions of children even in the inner-most corners of the country.

We have empowered children in urban slums and rural/ remote areas, where they have had no access to education during the pandemic. In fact, through our partners, we have been working with children who have been either rescued from child labour and human trade, minority groups or are terminally ill. With this initiative, our aim is to work and empower a diverse set of children. In fact, girls form 50% of our beneficiary set.

Furthermore, our partnerships with leading Non-Profits in India have strengthened our mission to continue creating a difference for students in India, and encouraged us to contribute to India’s transformation in the sphere of digital learning.

How do you plan to rope in the government and make it a mega success and penetrate smaller towns?

Mansi Kasliwal: We are already working with NGOs that are associated with the government and are doing exceptional work for children in the remote areas of our country. Through BYJU’S partnership with National Institution for Transforming India (NITI Aayog), we are providing free learning programs to students across 112 aspirational districts across the country. With the aim to ensure that every child deserves access to quality education, this partnership will provide children from socio-economically underdeveloped districts free access to BYJU’S high-quality and tech-driven learning programs.

Another extremely successful initiative is with Vahdam India to empower children of tea estate workers through digital learning. We joined hands with the NGO CRY, Child In Need Institute (CINI), and Vahdam India, the premium source-to-consumer tea brand, to launch the TEAchMe Project. Under the TEAchMe Project in partnership with Vahdam, we reached out to approximately 65 large tea estates, amongst other smaller ones in various regions of Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and West Bengal.

You have created a special film to promote across states. Could you define the purpose and the objective of this film?

Vineet Singh: The film was created to commemorate the one year anniversary of out ‘Education For All’ initiative. Plus, we wanted to showcase our one-year journey ofbringing a positive change at the grassroots level within a year of its launch. It is a small glimpse of the impact that we have created in the lives of millions of students by leveraging technology to break the learning barriers.

Through this film, BYJU’S aims to elucidate upon the prevailing digital divide in India and how through EFA, the company is working towards a common goal to make education equal, inclusive, and accessible for students, globally. BYJU’S with over 110 NGOs are working towards the democratisation of education and enable every student with equitable, accessible, and affordable education.

Who is this film being targeted to and from where did the insight emerge? What is the central idea of the film and can you elaborate the creative thought?

Vineet Singh: As I mentioned earlier, the film along with its intricacies reflects our vision for the communities, their languages, cultures, and the common goal to help every student of India. Our team has meticulously shot this film across the country with students who are real beneficiaries of the initiative (and not actors) as we wanted to capture their true emotions of being happy and content with access to quality education.

Panning and tilting across the scenic views of Uri in Kashmir to the panoramic white deserts of Kutch to the hinterlands of Sundarbans, the film is shot across Sonmarg, Jaisalmer, Alupuzzah, etc., for over 120 hours along with 1,000+ beneficiary students. The film’s music follows along with the unique rhythm of the mathematical ‘table of 2’, and is rendered artfully by actor-singer Raghubir Yadav. The music, composed by Sneha Khanwalkar, aims to capture the innocence and hope of young children for a better tomorrow.

By 2025 your larger vision is to transform the lives of 10 million students. What is the next milestone and what will be your road map to make education easily accessible to needy children of our country across all geographies?

Mansi Kasliwal: We started BYJU’S ‘Education For All’ with an overarching mission to reach 5 million students by 2025. However, we have already impacted the lives of 3.4 million children, so now we aim to reach 10 million students. We definitely aim to keep raising the numbers as we move towards our goal. Right now our efforts are directed towards students, but in the future, we may come up with initiatives for teachers to teach better in a hybrid learning environment.