In collaboration with Khan Academy, an educational foundation in India, SBI Foundation launched UpSchool, a digital learning initiative for students in grades 1 through 10. This curriculum will be provided in English, Hindi, and Kannada, with the goal of closing learning gaps and laying a sound math and reading foundation for the current academic year. Students or their parents can register for free at learn.khanacademy.org/upschool and will get learning links over WhatsApp for the next 4-6 weeks. At the end of the program, each student will receive a digital certificate.
Launch of UpSchool
Senior dignitaries such as Shri. Dinesh Khara, Chairman, SBI; Shri. Vinay M. Tonse, MD & CEO, SBI Funds Management Limited; SBI Foundation officials; and Mr. Sandeep Bapna, Head of Global Markets, Khan Academy attended the launch.
All of the tools available to parents and learners are 100 percent free, and there is no payment to enroll in the program, in keeping with Khan Academy’s aim to deliver free, world-class education. The program focuses on reviewing critical math and language comprehension skills from the previous year, allowing students to close the knowledge gap and lay a strong foundation for the next class.
Additionally, students can participate in exciting learning activities such as dancing and yoga by accessing the learning links. Based on their grade and preferred language, children will receive a math lesson, a short tale, and a fun activity/exercise each week. They can learn at their own pace and in their own time from the comfort of their own home.
This is one of SBI Foundation’s many efforts aimed towards increasing India’s last-mile access to education. SBI Foundation and Khan Academy recently teamed up to localize high-quality math learning content so that children can study in their native tongue.
The relationship began in Punjab, where the SBI Foundation supported a localization initiative to provide new math classes in Punjabi that included videos, essays, and practice activities aimed at all students in Punjab’s public schools. Khan Academy’s staff collaborated with over 6,000 public schools and taught over 11,000 instructors with funding from SBI Funds Management Ltd., resulting in around 4,00,000 kids spending over 5.16 lakh hours learning. Punjabi accounted for 53% of overall learning time.
Talking about the initiative, Shri. Dinesh Khara, Chairman, State Bank Group commented, “We are proud to support the UpSchool Foundations Program that makes a difference in making education accessible and helps to reduce learning gaps. With our partnerships, we aim to promote growth and equality among the underprivileged communities and this program facilitates the same.”
Shri. Vinay M. Tonse, MD & CEO, SBI Funds Management Limited added, “At the onset of the back-to-school season, our UpSchool Foundations Program will benefit students to be ready and better prepared. We are glad to extend this program to all students, equipping them with fun and interactive tools developed by experts, making high-quality localized educational content accessible to all. We are happy to be working with Khan Academy on making this happen.”
Commenting on this development, Sandeep Bapna, Head of Global Markets, Khan Academy, said, “SBI Funds Management Limited and SBI Foundation have helped us to achieve a scale in terms of reaching Indian households beyond metro cities which is hard to come by without their support. We are excited about the launch of this initiative which is specially curated so that students can learn essential math and language comprehension without spending a lot of time online.”