Electronics Daily India

OPPO, The Selfie Expert and Leader, has partnered with India's leading cricket training academy, PAYYADE Cricket Club to provide scholarship and promote cricket skills to 20 under privileged kids in the presence of Prithvi Shaw, Indian under - 19s team captain. To support and endorse the game of cricket, OPPO has pledged to contribute towards the society and work towards assisting these children in achieving their dreams.

Under this scholarship program, the club will provide two years of cricket training to these children. The children will get an opportunity to be trained under the guidance of cricket expert and coaches.

Mr. Will Yang, Brand Director of OPPO Mobiles India Private Limited, said, "Children are the backbone of the society and it is a great opportunity for us to support the dreams of these underprivileged kids and help them achieve their goals to create a difference in the field of cricket. OPPO as a brand has always believed that India is a talented country be it whichever field they choose to be in and with supporting this great cause, we will be able to provide enough resources for the training of these children."

Rohit Sharma, Indian Cricketer Icon, said, "It gives me immense pleasure to be a part of the brand which promotes social sports initiative. India having the youngest population, has immense talent and I firmly believe that such initiatives will provide the platform for these youngsters to horne their skills. These kids are lucky to receive such support in pursuit of their dreams, and I am delighted to walk this journey with them."

Hardik Pandya, Indian Cricketer Icon, said, "These kids are the reflection of my early days as a cricketer. Not long back, I too was scouted through a talent search and got the opportunity to improve my game. I am happy to know that these children will be getting the required guidance and support in fulfilling their dreams."

Ravinchandran Ashwin, Indian Cricketer Icon, said, "I believe it's a great opportunity for all the children who enjoy the game of cricket. I am extremely happy contributing towards this cause and providing them with amenities that will help in showcasing their talent."

With mobile and Internet penetration increasing at a breakneck speed, people are adopting technology for driving learning outcomes like never before. From test preparation to vocational learning to certifications to tutoring, Indian ed-tech firms are now booming in all niches.

A significant example can be found in the UPSC (civil services) exam segment. In the recently announced results All India Rank 1, Anudeep Durishetty, shared that online learning was a crucial part of his preparation. In a segment in which it is a norm for lakhs of candidates to relocate to a major coaching hub to access quality teachers, such learning becoming available online solves a core problem for aspirants.

In addition to students, teachers also benefit hugely from online platforms.

Traditionally, to extend reach beyond their main classroom(s), teachers mainly had three options. Travel to other cities regularly, use satellite technology such as V-SAT, or use video conferencing software such as Skype. The first two options are still limited by sizes of classrooms. V-SAT technology in addition to high infrastructural costs still needs students to visit classroom centers at a fixed schedule to access the classes. In the third option, acquiring customers has been a problem institutes have not been able to solve.

None of these solutions was able to create a widespread impact.

This is where ed-tech platforms strike gold. Through technological innovations, these companies enable teachers to add online to their repertoire in one go. From helping create digital content, to deliver via efficient learning management systems, teachers can continue focussing on their core strength - teaching.

The smart companies in this segment realize that in addition to technology, and to attract students the platform needs to be student-centric. One such example is the online live learning platform NeoStencil.com. "In this time of technology, it was necessary to go online as well as ensure continued focus on content delivery and student outcomes," shares Praveen Kishore, proud teacher of Anu Kumari (AIR-2, CSE-2017) and one of the over 60 teachers on the platform.

Many institutes are still able to manage content delivery but fail at acquiring customers. One such teacher, Mr Qaisar Hafiz, an ex-IES officer, a graduate of IIT Roorkee and now well known in the IES/GATE exam segment, shares: "We, at Engineers' Zone, were doing online classes in-house but soon realized that there was a need of an expert team to scale. This was difficult for an academic institute like us, simply because that's not our forte. Hence, we decided to join hands with NeoStencil and it has been going great."

Ed-tech platforms such as NeoStencil, Superprofs and Unacademy operate as marketplaces in this online learning space. Some international counterparts of these Indian startups include now-established companies such as Udemy, Udacity and Coursera.

According to a report by Google and KPMG, the paid user base of online education is forecasted to grow 6x - from 1.6 million users in 2016 to 9.6 million users in 2021. This is good news for not only the ed-tech platforms but also the teachers as a huge pool of students who look up to them for quality education.