On May 15, 2023, in Pakistan with the aim of digitizing educational procedures and building on enhanced learning results, TikTok and ed-tech company Edkasa are collaborating with the Sindh Education Foundation (SEF) to expand the #ExamReady scholarship program to over 10,000 deserving students in the province.
Early in 2022, TikTok, Edkasa, and Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) introduced #ExamReady, a groundbreaking STEM-focused digital learning initiative designed to support high school students’ online education and distant learning. The #ExamReady scholarship project, which will award online study funds to 18,000 meritorious students from all around Pakistan, was unveiled earlier this year.
The collaboration with the Sindh Education Foundation will support the spread of high-quality education in Sindh’s underprivileged regions. Sindh post-primary students in grades IX to XII would be eligible for the scholarships. By offering secondary and high school students a top-notch online learning experience through the Edkasa app, the partnership is the most recent in a series of initiatives taken by TikTok and Edkasa to improve learning outcomes through the use of technology.
Over 500 instructional videos on chemistry, physics, and maths were made available online as part of the #ExamReady campaign, which aimed to aid millions of Pakistani students. These included exam cheats and study strategies. On TikTok, the educational films quickly became a hit with Pakistani students, receiving over 558 million views and about 114,000 video submissions since its launch.
The short-form video platform is changing its focus in order to have a bigger influence on the communities where it operates, and Edkasa is doing the same with TikTok. Because of Edkasa’s success, which has over 480,000 downloads, and other partnerships, TikTok has been able to add more value to its platform.
The app and TikTok’s platform have shown to be of tremendous value to people who have suffered in the traditional classroom learning paradigm because of a system that is overworked, according to several student and parent testimonials.
Zara Basharat Higgs, Manager of Public Policy Programs and Partnerships, for South Asia and Pakistan, at TikTok, said: “We believe that education is a fundamental right and technology has an integral role to play in improving access and outcomes for students. We are proud to partner with Edkasa and the Sindh Education Foundation to extend our #ExamReady scholarship program and help even more students in disadvantaged areas of Sindh gain access to quality education. Through this partnership, we hope to continue to make a positive impact on the lives of young people in Pakistan and beyond.”
Fahad Tanveer, CEO at Edkasa, said: “There is great potential to be unlocked when we work together to make quality education more accessible for our children. With strategic support from TikTok and the tremendous initiative demonstrated by the team of the Sindh Education Foundation, we are grateful to support the learning of students across Sindh on the Edkasa app.”
Abdul Kabir Kazi, Managing Director, of Sindh Education Foundation, said that “The Government of Sindh, through the SEF, has taken various steps for the promotion and development of education across the province, mainly in the form of Public-Private Partnership initiatives benefiting around 850,000 students in more than 2600 schools and non-formal education centers across Sindh.”
He continued, “#ExamReady is a fantastic project that has given kids access to top-notch online content. As the kids were getting ready for their board examinations, the intervention could not have come at a better moment. Thanks to this relationship, our students now have a platform to continue developing their skills. The Grade XII students, who are highly enthusiastic, have also universally appreciated the added benefit of preparing for the SAT and entrance examinations.
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