SBI Foundation introduced UpSchool, a digital learning program for students from class 1-10 in partnership with Khan Academy, an educational nonprofit in India. This program will be available in English, Hindi and Kannada languages aiming to reduce learning gaps and build a solid foundation in math and reading for their current academic year. Students or their parents can register for the program for free by visiting learn.khanacademy.org/upschool and will receive learning links on WhatsApp for 4-6 weeks. Every student will receive a digital certificate at completing the program.
The launch program was attended by senior dignitaries such as Shri. Dinesh Khara, Chairman, SBI; Shri. Vinay M. Tonse, MD & CEO, SBI Funds Management Limited; officials from SBI Foundation; and Mr. Sandeep Bapna, Head of Global Markets, Khan Academy.
In line with Khan Academy’s mission to provide free, world-class education, all the resources available to parents and learners are 100% free and there is no cost to enroll in the program. The program focuses on revising important concepts from the previous year in Math and language comprehension, helping them narrow the knowledge gap and build a strong foundation for the new class. Additionally, there are fun learning activities such as dance and yoga where the students can participate by visiting the learning links. Every week, the students will receive a math lesson, a short story, and a fun activity/exercise based on their grade and preferred language. They can learn at their own pace and time from home
This is one of the many initiatives by SBI Foundation towards improving last mile access to education in India. Recently, SBI Foundation and Khan Academy partnered to localize high quality math learning content so that students can learn in their preferred language. The initiation of this partnership took place in Punjab, where SBI Foundation funded the localization project for creating new math lessons consisting of videos, articles and practice exercises in Punjabi aiming at all learners in Punjab’s public schools. With funding support from SBI Funds Management Ltd., Khan Academy’s team worked with over 6,000 public schools and trained over 11,000 teachers resulting in almost 4,00,000 students spending a total learning time of over 5.16 lakh hours. 53% of total learning time was in Punjabi.
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.”