Bangladesh has visioned and undertaken some significant projects and status in the last few years. While the country is set to graduate from LDC by 2026 and has obtained remarkable growth in the economic sector, the rooted reason behind every such feat remains skill and adherence to technology.
According to UNICEF, there are more than 32 million adolescents in Bangladesh. In a country with a young demographic, they make up 21 percent of the population. Additionally, there are 43 million students in Bangladesh enrolled in different streams and classes. Having said that, while the whole world has been on the shift toward technology-based education or Edtech, Bangladesh has also set its footprint on the expanding sector for a time now.
The Edtech revolution, which was pioneered by 10 Minutes School in mid-2014 through its Youtube channel, has now millions dollar worth of market aspiring to become a billion-dollar one by 2025. Currently, around 90 EdTech startups operate in Bangladesh, ensuring a more sustainable future.
The revolution started amid the growing consumption of technology and the internet, which enabled the startups to reach students rapidly. However, in the earlier days, speculations were made whether the tech-based method of education would be viable for students around the country or remain only in the urban cocoon. But figures from startups like 10 Minutes School, Shikho, etc., have shown Edtech excelling in the corners of the country, covering all 64 districts.
One of the key obstacles for students to get private tutors or coaching remains the affordability and accessibility. During the pandemic, the entire education system turned online to save students from losing an education year. In the last two years, the path has been created seamlessly to include students in the Edtech system. Considering students getting more familiar with online education, the accessibility to cost-friendly education is further being assured in the Edtech setting.
Startups like 10 Minute School and Shikho charge 75%-80% less than the traditional tutor or coaching-based study system. Additionally, it saves students from rushing to different centres with just a minimum smartphone and net connection.
The Rise of 10 Minutes School
10 Minutes School entered the scene when coaching centres were at the peak of their popularity, and digital education was taboo. Back then, Bangladeshi parents firmly believed mobile phones could not be a means of education. It could only be used to divert someone from getting a sound education. 10 Minutes School helped a whole generation to get out of that mentality. It will not be an exaggeration to say that digital education was introduced in Bangladesh through 10 Minutes School. Ayman Sadiq started 10 Minutes School back in 2014 with a clear vision. And the vision was to address two pain points faced by the 40 million students under the national curriculum. The two pain points were a lack of equal opportunity for quality education and the geological and financial barriers to acquiring that said opportunity. And through their free educational videos, 10 Minutes School innovatively and somewhat easily addressed both issues. The video that kindled the idea of 10 Minutes School was titled “One Formula to Rule Them All.” This video went viral overnight and started the journey of what we now came to know as 10 Minutes School. It may sound like a stroke of luck, but the backstory is about optimism and always believing in your idea. Before Ayman Sadiq started his YouTube channel, he used to do infographics and share them in SlideShare. Evaluating the engagement of his contents, one day, a group approached him to make an infographic on “One Formula to Rule Them All.” However, the group backed out at the last minute. Instead of doubting himself and his creation, Ayman decided to open a YouTube channel and upload it there. The rest is history.
10 Minutes School is Bangladesh’s largest online education platform and EdTech startup. It has more than 28,000 videos and over 50,000 quizzes. The reason behind its ever-growing popularity is its well-thought-out strategy. Apart from catering to the needs of students from classes 1 to 12, it also creates content for university students and various entrance examinees. Since partnering with Robi and launching its app, 10 Minutes School has focused on more specific and in-depth courses like freelancing, Quran recitation, digital marketing, etc. This has further accelerated its growth. Over 2.5 million users are at the moment registered to 10 Minutes School. The platform is growing 30% month on month.
The Future of 10 Minutes School
Ayman Sadiq’s vision for the future of his startup is beyond practical. It is the vision of a dreamer. 10 Minutes School’s uniqueness depends on its high-tech modelling. And such technological advancement requires a massive sum of money. In the past, he had to let some of his ideas go due to limited resources. For instance, his vision of creating tutorial videos using augmented reality was abruptly halted. But now that 10 Minutes School has started getting seed funding from global investors, the hope has ignited again. The $2 million funding the company received from Sequoia Capital at the beginning of this year has opened new horizons. Ayman Sadiq expressed his joy on his social media account by sharing a list of ambitious goals he would like to achieve with the help of such seed funding. The list was 17 goals long. He shared his desire to make 3D videos on hard-to-discern topics. Due to the expenditure of servers, 10 Minutes School had to take live classes on Facebook or YouTube until now. But with the help of the seed money, they are hoping to take live classes on their app. So that students can easily attend the classes even with less bandwidth. He further mentioned his wish to create ‘experience centers’ in every district to eliminate the digital divide. There is no doubt that Ayman Sadiq’s dreams for 10 Minutes School are big; the sceptics even may tag them as impossible. But the way 10 Minutes School and other Bangladeshi EdTech startups are growing, the future seems bright.
The Amalgamation of Shikho and Bohubrihi: The Dynamic Duo
Shikho is relatively new in the EdTech industry of Bangladesh. But it has already turned around heads by recently acquiring the largest seed funding any Bangladeshi startup has raised to date. Shikho has raised the US $4 million in funding from Wavemaker Partners, a leading venture capital firm in Southeast Asia. In addition, it had also acquired $1.3 million US dollars in August 2021, making its total funding $5.3 million. Shikho launched its mobile app back in November 2020. According to Shahir Chowdhury, the co-founder, and CEO of Shikho, the company has “pioneered the introduction of animated video content to aid visual learning and for launching the first and only personalized, data-driven learning app available in Bangladesh.” So far, Shikho has mainly provided academic courses based on the national curriculum. But, its recent move to acquire Bohubrihi, another leading online professional course platform in Bangladesh, has widened its scope. The collaboration has improved both organizations’ lack and created a more robust and dynamic EdTech platform for all ages. In March 2022, over one million users engaged with Shikho. There are more than 500 thousand registered users across all 64 districts. All these achievements happened within only 18 months.
The Edtech startups in Bangladesh channel through both formal and informal models, creating a diverse field of learning. Despite being a growing field, Edtech is still developing its roots in Bangladesh. Therefore, a sustainable way forward ensuring an increasing market is without mention the thriving goal in Bangladesh.
