BYJU’S strengthens senior management in its tech-first approach to growth

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July 8, 2022

Despite the fact that BYJU’S has laid off hundreds of its employees, the educational technology (ed-tech) firm is growing its senior leadership team.

It has appointed former Amazon executives Sunil Sharma and Darshan Bhandari as Vice Presidents (VPs) of engineering student and teacher experience and engineering tuition centre and devices, respectively.

Further, in an effort to boost its tech vertical, it announced the appointment of Mani Bansal and Maneesh Agrawal to manage key tech functions earlier this year.

Sunil Sharma would be in charge of catalysing vital technologies (tech) to improve the student, parent, and teacher experience, as well as customer service and mentor relationships.

He brings with him 21 years of experience building up tech teams at companies such as Amazon, Hewlett Packard, and AGT International. He was Amazon’s head of tech for freight auditing and payments.

Bhandari, who has over 18 years of expertise in technology innovation and talent development at companies including Amazon, Reliance Jio Infocomm, and Amdocs, will oversee BYJU’S hybrid learning platform.

Last year, the company appointed Mukut Deepak as head of business to handle its Class 4-10 school division. Deepak worked as Tata Sky’s chief business development officer and director of the company’s digital venture.

Sharing his views, President of the tech division, Anil Goel said, “Byju’s tech-first approach makes it home to some of the world’s finest tech experts.”

The $22 Bn company is boosting its top leadership at a time when Byju Raveendran’s firm is considering an initial public offering. The company intends to go public by the end of next year.

The United States and India are both important markets for BYJU’S. Hence, the reports suggest that the company may conduct a primary listing in the United States and a secondary listing in India, or vice versa.

BYJU’S also appointed Rachna Bahadur as senior vice president to oversee the company’s global expansion plans. Bahadur was a partner at Bain & Company and led the consumer goods practice.

Vedhanarayanan Ganeshkumar, an Amazon IT veteran, was recently named the new V-P-tech division, and Himanshu Bajaj was appointed as the head of business at BYJU’S Learning Centre in May.

Bajaj oversaw consulting firm Kearney’s consumer and retail business across Asia Pacific.

According to sources, BYJU’S is also planning to promote Chief Operating Officer Mrinal Mohit to a larger role, including heading India operations.

Further, the company has changed its top leadership, selecting Krishna Vedati as president of global growth and strategic initiatives. Vedati, co-founder and CEO of Tynker, a coding education platform for children, will report to Raveendran.

All of the significant changes in the company’s management are the consequence of Raveendran’s attempt to take the company to a global platform. This is because Raveendran, the company’s founder, and CEO, is planning to focus on global expansion and acquisitions.

Earlier this month, the company cleared the pending payment to the tutorial chain Aakash Educational Services.

Last year, BYJU’S invested about $1 Bn to buy Aakash, an educational service chain that provides special coaching to NEET, and JEE aspirants.

JEE Main 2022: Final answer key out at jeemain.nta.nic.in, get direct link, steps to download

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July 8, 2022

The National Testing Agency (NTA) has released the final answer key of Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) Main 2022 session 1 in online mode. It must be noted that only the answer key for JEE Main Paper 1 (BE/BTech) has been released. The JEE Main 2022 Paper 2 answer key is yet to be released. Candidates can download the JEE Main 2022 Session 1 BE/BTech Paper 1 answer key from the official website – jeemain.nta.nic.in.

JEE Main 2022 Final Answer Key: Steps to download

Step 1: Visit the official website – www.jeemain.nta.nic.in.

Step 2: Click on the link ‘JEE (Main) – 2022 (Session 1) – PROVISIONAL FINAL KEY B.E/B.Tech.(Paper I)’ on the homepage.

Step 3: A PDF document will be displayed on screen.

Step 4: Download the JEE Main 2022 Session 1 BE/BTech Paper 1 answer key and take a printout for future use.

JEE Main 2022 Final Answer Key Direct Link

JEE Main Result 2022 for Session 1

NTA is expected to soon release the JEE Main result for session 1 on the official website – jeemain.nta.nic.in. To check JEE Mains Result, candidates will have to login using the application form number and date of birth.

JEE Main 2022 Session 1

JEE Main 2022 session 1 exams were conducted between June 20 and 29, 2022, and the session 2 exams are scheduled to take place from July 21 to 30, 2022.

UP continues to lead India’s Vax drive with over 34.2 cr total doses

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July 6, 2022

Scaling new heights in the ongoing vaccination drive, the state of Uttar Pradesh, on Wednesday, crossed the landmark of achieving 100 percent first dose coverage to the children in the age category of 15-17.

This is another major milestone as the state continues to conduct one of the most successful vaccination campaigns in the country since the rollout of the mass immunisation drive.

Strengthening its fight against the Covid-19 pandemic, the Uttar Pradesh government is providing vaccination cover to all children in a time-bound manner. So far, over 2,64,31,699 vaccine doses have been administered to children in the age group of 15-17, making 100 percent of this age category receiving the first dose and over 88.5 percent of them being fully vaccinated so far.

Similarly, over 1,44,95,214 vaccine doses have been administered to the children in the age group of 12-14 in the state. In this category about 97.4 percent have received the first dose and over 73.7 percent have been fully vaccinated.

As per data from CoWin portal updated till 12:30pm on Wednesday, at least 34.2 crore out of the total 198 crore doses administered in the country are from UP.

Committed to providing additional protection cover to the people, Uttar Pradesh started administering booster shots (precaution dose) from January 10. Over 36.38 lakh ‘precaution doses’ have been administered in the state so far.

UP is followed by Maharashtra with 16.97 crore doses administered so far. In terms of percentage, over 97.59 per cent of the adult population is fully vaccinated and 100 percent have received one vaccine dose.

To ensure vaccine cover to every eligible individual, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has also asked the concerned officials to ensure adequate availability of vaccine doses in Uttar Pradesh and encourage the eligible beneficiaries to take the vaccine.

Aggressive Vaccination is an integral part of the comprehensive strategy of the Yogi-led UP government to contain the pandemic, along with adherence to coronavirus- appropriate behaviour and strict surveillance.

Edtech company AntWalk raises $7.5 Mn in Series A funding

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July 6, 2022

AntWalk, a B2B Edtech platform, has raised $7.5 Mn in a Series A investment round led by GSV. The round also saw participation from Y Combinator and existing investor Matrix Partners India.

Founded in the year 2019, AntWalk is the brainchild of former McKinsey consultants, ex-bankers and former educators, Joybroto Ganguly, Basav Nagur, Sriramkumar Sundararaman, Sumit Gupta and Sudhanshu Shekhar. They realised that there was a need for contextual knowledge transfer as employees join, grow and shoulder larger responsibilities.

The company said the funding will be used to strengthen the Learning Experience Platform (LXP) using gamification, build best-in-class content pedagogy through R&D, and expand the sales and marketing team to widen the customer base.

Sharing thoughts on the company’s fundraise, Joybroto Ganguly, Co-founder & CEO said, “The name ‘AntWalk’ was inspired by the way ants communicate and share intelligence with each other when they walk, reflecting the act of ‘collaborative social learning.’ We are well on our way to building a robust ed-tech company focused on the global skilling opportunity, by leveraging this power of collaborative learning and are excited to partner with GSV Ventures on this journey.”

Sumit Gupta, Cofounder, AntWalk added, “Acquiring the right skills at the right time from the right pool of global experts would not only help employees meet their immediate business goals, and become future-ready, but also benefit organizations in creating a high-performance workplace with proficient and motivated knowledge workers. It is crystal-clear that the value.”

The enterprise L&D (Learning & Development) Industry is expected to touch the $402 Bn mark by 2025, but the current L&D model is broken, siloed and does not put professionals’ role readiness at the center of learning interventions, informed AntWalk.

The edtech company said, the industry is dominated by self-learning content such as MOOCs (Massive Open Online Course) which have very low completion rates or are driven by individual trainers who have limited bandwidth to contextualise and deliver tech-driven learning experiences.

AntWalk plays its role here by rejuvenating Enterprise L&D with “Role-focused Capability Academies” – a combination of industry-relevant content delivered by 4,000+ global professionals through live group sessions, 1:1 coaching and gamified content.

“GSV Ventures is proud to align with Joy and the team, who bring passion and purpose to one of the toughest challenges in the corporate world – reskilling and upskilling employees to match dynamic job demands,” commented Deborah Quazzo, Managing Partner of GSV Ventures.

For the uninitiated, AntWalk is an E-learning company that helps organisations accelerate and transform their L&D model, paving the way to continuous learning for professionals. The team consists of ISBians and ex-Mckinsey alums who are passionate about sharing, learning and growing together.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy disburses Vidya Kanuka School Kits for the 3rd consecutive year

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July 6, 2022

ANDHRA PRADESH CHIEF MINISTER YS JAGAN MOHAN REDDY

Marking the third consecutive year, the ‘Jagananna Vidya Kanuka’ stands as one of the most beneficial schemes for school students. The Jagananna Vidya Kanuka started with the aim to ensure that the beginning of an academic year should not be a burden on parents. The government is providing a school kit free of cost, and it consists of three pairs of uniforms with their stitching charges; one pair of shoes; 2 pairs of socks, a belt, a school bag, textbooks, notebooks, and workbooks for all students pursuing education in all government and aided schools from Classes 1 to 10. Overall, *47,40,421 students* from government and aided schools across the state received school kits. The government this year spent around Rs. 931.02 Cr which adds up to *Rs. 2,368.33 Cr in the last 3 years.*

Ever since CM YS Jagan Mohan Reddy’s government took over the reins of the state, the Chief Minister has been emphasising a holistic approach towards the overall development of the education sector that has always been taken up on priority. Right from education-related schemes from ‘Amma Vodi’ to Swecha, the total expenditure by the government in the last 3 years is Rs. 52,676.98 Cr. As a result, the number of students studying in government schools (From classes 1 to 10) has seen a remarkable increase from 37.21 lakh students to 44.30 lakh students – i.e. 7 lakh students have joined government-run schools and the number is on the rise ever since.

No stone is left unturned in improving the education standards in the lives of the students, beginning with the introduction of CBSE education in government schools to newly partnered BYJUs who will now be adding on their expertise into digital education. Speaking further on their role, the CM said _’The government has signed an MoU with BYJUs, one of the largest educational tech companies. BYJUs study material will be distributed to all students studying in govt schools from class 4 to class 10. Apart from knowledge building, 4.7 lakh students of class 8 will receive tabs by September 2022. Steps are being carried out towards the installation of smart TVs or digital display board in each classroom to facilitate the digital format of teaching and learning’.

Further lending support and appreciating the government-led initiatives under the education sector, Haji Altaf Hussain, from the minority welfare said, “Education policy is not targeted to one section of society but for the benefit the students across the state. The Chief Minister has ensured that it is his responsibility to educate, irrespective of caste, creed, and religion. Even with the financial constrain, the CM stands as a guarantee and proved to implement it so. CM emphasises on education because the future lies in better education and ensuring to make them globally competent. I urge my minority community to fully utilise the resources, facilities, and privileges which is being provided in the banquet of the education policies because this is the future, you can create a foundation of new Andhra Pradesh under the leadership of Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy.”

Smart Upgrade: e-Content studio coming up at UP Directorate of Higher Education

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July 6, 2022

From ensuring no child is left out of school to bridging the digital divide by fostering e-learning methods in government colleges, the Yogi government 2.O regime has introduced numerous reforms to transform education in its first 100 days.

Ensuring all children receive quality education, enrollment of about 1.88 crore students and more than 1.65 crore Aadhaar cards were made under the School Chalo Abhiyan in the state. With this, development of ‘Pahuch’ for school mapping of students of far-flung areas, ‘Pankh’ for career counselling, ‘Pragyan’ for e-library, ‘Parakh’ for monitoring, ‘Praveen’ for skill training, ‘Pachhaan’ for schools and ‘Project Alankar’ portal for resource mapping was done.

In the first 100 days of the Yogi government’s second tenure, a provision of Rs 10 crores was made for the appointment of 1200 lecturers in aided colleges and for setting up of smart classes in 87 government colleges.

Apart from smart classes, an E-content digital studio is also underway at the state Directorate of Higher Education at a cost of Rs 1 crore. It will then be used for recording and editing of contents which will later be utilised for conducting virtual classes.

The Yogi government has installed biometric attendance devices at about 2273 government inter colleges. At the same time, the government has also completed the appointment of about 1200 teachers in hundred days to remove the shortage of teachers.

In addition, a provision of Rs 1051 lakh has been made for the development (upgradation) of laboratories in 36 government degree colleges. The Yogi government has also made a provision of Rs 203 lakhs to provide technical books in 111 government colleges. Moreover, the government has given its approval to facilitate the expansion of sports facilities in 172 government colleges.

Gorakhpur’s Madan Mohan Malviya University of Technology first UP university to get NAAC A grade

Among the biggest achievements of the Yogi government in 100 days, Gorakhpur’s Madan Mohan Malviya University of Technology brought laurels to the state by becoming the first state university to get ‘A’ grade by the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC).

At the same time, construction of two government polytechnics and 15 women and men hostels was completed. The first hundred days of Yogi Sarkar 2.O have been full of achievements in terms of placement of students. During this, 2,207 students were selected in TCS in AKTU and its affiliated colleges.

BYJU’S clears pending payment to Aakash, closes $800 Mn fundraising

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July 6, 2022

Edtech giant BYJU’S has cleared the pending payment to the tutorial chain Aakash Educational Services. “Our payments to Aakash are closed and the audited financial results are going to be announced in the next 10 days.” – added the spokesperson in its statement.

Last year, BYJU’S invested about $1 Bn to purchase Aakash, an educational service chain for NEET, and JEE aspirants.

According to reports, the edtech platform had been delaying payments and had asked for an extension. The company was addressing media reports that said Deloitte, its auditor, had delayed approving the financial statements due to irregularities.

The edtech player also said that its fundraising is proceeding as planned and that all payments are anticipated to be completed by the agreed-upon date i.e., August 2022. “Our fundraising efforts are on track and the majority of the $800 million has been already received. The balance is also expected soon,” stated the spokesperson.

However, the edtech ecosystem has been experiencing challenging times for a while. The last six months have been a roller coaster for edtech businesses, with layoffs, restructuring, reductions, and even going out of business. In its most recent effort to reduce costs, WhiteHat Jr., which is owned by BYJU’S, laid off roughly 300 staff, as per reports. Additionally, a source also states the potential for BYJU’S to entirely absorb WhiteHat Jr. in the coming months.

However, the spokesperson also added, “BYJU’S remains a net hirer… BYJU’S continues to hire across levels for various businesses, departments, and functions.”

In March this year, the company said it had raised $800 Mn in a round, and close to $400 Mn was contributed by CEO Byju Raveendran.

The creator and CEO of BYJU’S, Byju Raveendran, contributed $400 Mn (about Rs 3,000 crore) of the $800 Mn (around Rs 6,000 crore) that the company raised in its most recent capital round.

In a statement, the company also said that the decision to lay off employees was made to increase business efficiency across BYJU’S and its group companies.

“In order to reduce redundancies across our organisation after multiple acquisitions, we had to let go of nearly 1% of our over 50,000 strong workforces. This retrenchment was a result of a strategic decision to improve business efficiencies throughout BYJU’s and its group companies. BYJU’s remains a net hirer,” the edtech firm said.

Meanwhile, BYJU’S major competitors including Vedantu, and Unacademy have also been on a layoff spree.

Byju Raveendran, the startup’s CEO and founder, Sumeru Ventures, Vitruvian Partners, and BlackRock led an $800 Mn strategic funding round for BYJU’S in March and it valued the company at about $22 Bn.

According to sources, the money was raised at a $22 Bn valuation.

During the fundraising round, Byju Raveendran stated, “We continue to witness accelerated growth in India and global markets via both organic and inorganic routes. Our sustained focus is on achieving our long-term goals around creating life-long value for our learners.”

Government warns edtech companies against misleading advertisements

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July 4, 2022

The government has recently warned edtech companies against engaging in unfair practices, such as misleading advertising. It has warned to enact strict regulations if the companies don’t conform to the rules and laws that are already in place.

During a meeting in the nation’s capital led by Consumer Affairs Secretary Rohit Kumar Singh with self-regulatory body India Edtech Consortium (IEC), which runs under the aegis of the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), and other industry stakeholders, the secretary addressed ways to manage consumer interests throughout the edtech sector. It was also discussed how to curb the rise in fake reviews in the edtech sector.

IAMAI representatives as well as IEC member companies including upGrad, BYJU’S, Unacademy, Vedantu, Great Learning, WhiteHat Jr, and Sunstone attended the meeting. An official statement claims that issues such as misleading advertising strategies and unfair trade practices for the Indian edtech industry were the main concern of the meeting and were discussed throughout.

“If self-regulation does not curb the unfair trade practices, then stringent guidelines would be formulated for ensuring transparency,” said Rohit Kumar Singh in the meeting.

In recent times, there has been a huge spike in fake reviews and advertisements that mislead the common people in the edtech industry. Hence, the central government felt the need to bring strict laws and take action against those companies who don’t conform to the laws and procedures.

Secretary Rohit Kumar Singh emphasised throughout the meeting how crucial it is to safeguard consumer rights and eliminate the sector of unfair business practices.

Therefore, he said, it is crucial that everyone works together to keep strong checkpoints that are in line with the interests of customers.

Education was the industry with the highest rate of advertising code violations in 2021–2022 according to a recent report by the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI).

IEC consists of Indian startups and 95% of the Indian learner population. It was counselled by Singh to keep up their good work in support of the ecosystem and form a collaborative working group with pertinent stakeholders to create Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs).

According to the statement, the industry representatives also gave the secretary a report on the IEC’s progress and the direction of current initiatives to improve learner welfare and awareness.

In recent months, the central government has cracked down on cab aggregators, restaurant owners, and food delivery services for engaging in unfair business practices and has issued warnings to prevent future involvement.

The government is now keeping an eye on the edtech industry after several investigation reports claimed that both large and small edtech companies had adopted unfair business practices.

As a result, the government ensures that consumer rights are safeguarded at all costs and that their interests are never compromised.

The industry officials addressed the need to improve the Indian edtech ecosystem further as part of the plan in order to better protect consumer interests through seamless, transparent, and practical services for customers.

CBSE Class 10th, 12th Results 2022: Time, websites, steps to check

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July 4, 2022

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) is likely to declare CBSE Class 10 result 2022 today, i.e. on July 4. The board is yet to make an official announcement regarding the result date or time. However, students are advised to keep an eye on CBSE’s official website for any updates regarding CBSE Class 10th, 12th results. Students can check their respective final 10th and 12th result 2022, on the official website of the board — cbseresults.nic.in, cbse.gov.in, once released. The Class 10 examination was conducted from April 26, 2022, to May 24, 2022. The evaluation process ended on June 20. The board would now compile the Term 1 and Term 2 performance and release the results for the same.

CBSE Class 10th, 12th Result 2022 date and time

CBSE Class 10 Result 2022 is likely to be released today by 11 am, as per media reports. CBSE Result 2022 for Class 10 will be released before the CBSE Class 12 result.

CBSE Class 10th, 12th Result 2022: Websites to Download CBSE Result 2022

cbseresults.nic.in
results.gov.in
Digilocker.gov.in

CBSE Class 10th Result 2022: Steps to download the scorecard

Visit the official websites — cbse.gov.in, cbseresults.nic.in.
On the homepage, click on the “CBSE Term 2 Class 10 Result 2022” link.
Enter the login credentials such as CBSE roll number and date of birth.
Your CBSE 10th Scorecard 2022 will appear on the screen.
Download the Class 10th Marksheet and take a printout of it for further reference.

CBSE Class 10th Result 2022: Mobile apps to check result

Also read: CBSE Results: Evaluation of answer sheet to resume from home

The CBSE class 10th result will be available on the UMANG app and Digilocker. Both the apps can be downloaded from the Play Store. Students have to key in the required credentials to log in and get access to their score cards.

UK announces 75 scholarships for Indian students to mark 75th year of Independence

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July 1, 2022

The UK government on Wednesday announced that it has partnered with leading businesses in India to offer 75 fully-funded scholarships for Indian students to study in the UK from September, in the honour of India’s 75th anniversary of Independence. This is the highest number of fully-funded scholarships given for a one-year master’s programme to date. Companies like HSBC, Pearson India, Hindustan Unilever, Tata Sons and Duolingo are supporting this special initiative.

HSBC India will sponsor 15 scholarships, Pearson India will sponsor two, Hindustan Unilever, Tata Sons and Duolingo will sponsor one each as part of the 75 scholarships.

Also read: UGC: Releasing scholarships without institutes’ confirmation

The programmes on offer include Chevening scholarships for a one-year master’s programme, with the opportunity to study any subject at any recognised UK university. Chevening is the British government’s international awards scheme offered in 150 countries since 1983. India’s Chevening programme is the largest in the world with more than 3,500 alumni.

The British Council in India is also offering at least 18 scholarships for women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) – covering over 12,000 courses across more than 150 UK universities. Along with these, the British Council is offering six English scholarships.

The announcement comes as British and Indian leaders from international business and government gather in London for the India Global Forum.

Speaking at the India Global Forum, Alex Ellis, British High Commissioner to India, said: “In India’s 75th year, this is a great milestone together. Thanks to the exceptional support from our partners in the industry, I am delighted to announce 75 scholarships for Indian students to experience the best of the UK. Nearly 30 per cent of Chevening scholars in India come from smaller cities or are first-generation students, making this an increasingly diverse programme.”

What is included?

The fully funded scholarship includes university tuition fees, monthly stipend, travel costs to and from the UK, arrival allowance, cost of one visa application, travel grant to attend Chevening events in the UK for a one-year-postgraduate programme. A minimum of two years’ work experience is required for candidates to be eligible for the award.

Further details, including on how to apply, can be found on the Chevening website.

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