Edtech major Byju's on Thursday introduced a new 'two-teacher' feature for its after-school online tutoring programme - Byju's Classes, a move aimed at delivering better learning experiences and outcomes.
The two-teacher advantage offering – which will be available as a separate offering at about Rs 2,500 per month – will see students being taught by one expert teacher who uses strong visuals and storytelling to explain topics in-depth to ensure conceptual clarity.
The second teacher will solve instant doubts, paying individual attention and making the sessions interactive and engaging.
"Byju's Classes 'Two Teacher Model' is a one-of-its-kind offering in the Indian online tuition segment, and is a key milestone in our mission to redefine the classrooms of tomorrow.
"It provides students access to the best teachers along with live and interactive instant doubt resolutions that closely simulate the offline classroom environment," Byju's chief operating officer Mrinal Mohit said in a virtual briefing.
He added that the immersive learning experience will aid in effective learning for students anywhere as well as help solve delivery of quality education at scale.
Byju's Classes will be conducted in small batches and students can choose weekday/weekend batches as per their school curriculum.
"This product is right now launched for class 4 to 10 for math and science, and we aspire to get very good traction for this product, we expect very good acceptance of this product this year,” he said.
The company conducted an in-depth research with students across the country, and found that having two teachers in a class leads to better learning outcomes.
The results also showed a higher attention span, better engagement, and conceptual clarity which further helped in reinforcement and retention of class topics, the company said.
"The Byju's Classes interface has been designed to offer real-time support to enhance the online learning experience.
"It is optimised for low bandwidth networks too. With a maximum of 25 students per class, the interface also provides student-to-teacher and student-to-student interaction, white-board mode, focus mode, raise-hand functionality much like a physical classroom," Mohit explained.
Byju's Classes will support the student after class with regular homework and practice on its app and provide monthly report cards, regular progress updates and Parent Teacher Meetings.
In addition to superior quality tutors and content, students are also assigned a mentor who will also provide assignments, monthly evaluations, and progress reports to encourage students to become self-paced, active learners.
Byju's, which is India's most valued edtech startup, is backed by investors like Chan-Zuckerberg Initiative, Naspers, CPPIB, General Atlantic, Tencent, Sequoia Capital, Sofina, Verlinvest, IFC, Aarin Capital, TimesInternet, Lightspeed ventures, Tiger Global, Owl Ventures and Qatar Investment Authority.
The edtech space has seen strong growth globally, including in India, with the COVID-19 pandemic serving as an inflection point. Many offline classes went online to ensure continuity of education while adhering to social distancing norms.
A number of players have raised fresh funding from investors, along with consolidation.
Byju's (Think & Learn Pvt Ltd) has been on an acquisition spree with the buyout of Aakash Educational Services for about a billion dollars, Singapore-headquartered Great Learning for $600 million (about Rs 4,466 crore), and US-based digital reading platform Epic for $500 million (around Rs 3,729.8 crore).
The edtech major is estimated to have raised $1.5 billion in funding in multiple tranches since April last year.
Photograph via Twitter
