Can 12,000 students study together? It may have sounded impossible in Bangladesh just 2/3 years back but with the grace of online education this is possible. Shikho technologies have already made it possible by providing the best quality online education to students all over Bangladesh.

In just 3 years of journey, Shikho has become the fastest-growing ed-tech startup in Bangladesh. Shikho is committed to bringing quality education to the doorsteps of every student in the country. To reach students of all levels – the Shikho team has designed all the courses online, at a low cost.

If you check out their website, you will see they have a year-long academic program, along with a good number of expert mentors to ensure the best preparation for SSC and HSC examinations. Students can study all the subjects under one program and solve any questions with the mentors in interactive live classes. 

The most amazing part is that after completing each topic of any given subject, Shikho shares animated video lessons to help students remember complex formulas and understand the entire chapter clearly. Thus, each topic becomes more interesting and engaging for the kids. Each topic comes with Smart notes, Class notes, Multiple choice questions, and Creative questions to help students understand better.

Recently, a student of Viqarunnisa Noon College, named Jannatul Mim said “After college running from one coaching center to another till 5PM, used to drain all my energy, but now after joining Shikho, I can relax and study. Therefore, I can concentrate better in my studies.” 

Moreover, if a student faces any difficulties, he/she gets the opportunity for extra consultation classes after the scheduled class time. They do not charge any extra for this. Also, the live classes are recorded and later uploaded to the website. So even if a student cannot attend at a certain time - he/she can watch the classes later and catch up. To avail of these opportunities, all a student needs to do is just download the Shikho app, this is because they have their very own platform - Shikho web portal and the app where all the courses are available.

Shahir Chowdhury, the co-founder, and CEO of Shikho said in an interview that "Bangladesh didn’t really have an education technology industry until 2018. We had a few YouTube channels that were free, but no proper, structured tech product-focused company." He added "When I saw the models in India in 2018, you had Byju’s, Unacademy, and Vedantu coming up. Nothing similar existed in Bangladesh — there was no reason why it shouldn’t. We have 45 million students from primary to tertiary formal education, and only 80,000 of them study in English. The rest of them study in Bangla. But because they study in Bangla, nobody is actually catering to them. Everyone wants that small segment of English-language students who have a lot of disposable income. 

Our question was, how do you democratise access to high-quality education for the masses? So, what we wanted to do was teach the Bangladeshi national curriculum in the Bangla language, and do it at a price point that was affordable. But because we could do it at scale, it would make commercial sense in the longer term."

The idea of Edtech in Bangladesh can be new but in the brighter picture, students no longer need to run in several coaching centres after school, they no longer need to face the traffic and waste time. They return home from school and relax, study online, and prepare for their SSC and HSC exams from home. Guardians can have daily updates on their education, spend more time with children and save a lot of money.

Edtech companies are truly transforming education by incorporating technology into daily activities allowing teachers to redesign the teaching environment and improve the learning experience.

This is 2023, and a high time for all of us to accept the positive changes and join the new revolution in learning.

BDST: 1837 HRS, MARCH 02, 2023
MSK/SMS