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By Safna Malik
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Abans Group Founder and Chairperson Aban Pestonjee
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Techsas International in collaboration with Abans Plc this week launched ‘Study Buddy,’ a learning guide model to improve the quality of education in rural schools.
Techsas International Co-Founder and Director Sidesh Mallawarachchi said ‘Study Buddy’ was an app designed on a 64 GB SD card comprising tutorials by experienced teachers from recognised universities, revision sessions and more than 2,000 lessons covering nine mandatory subjects for Grade 10 and 11 students.
Speaking about the overview of the ‘Study Buddy’ bundle, he said it was a one-time investment the initial amount would be Rs. 7,900 per ‘Study Buddy’ package. For people who are finding it expensive, Techsas International is currently working closely with banks to provide an instalment system to enjoy the services.
The significance of the ‘Study Buddy’ bundle is the application being compatible with any Android device 8.1 or 8 above and a tab is not a necessity, he added. Speaking about the partnership with Abans he said they choose Abans PLC since the company ventured into business with a single store in Colombo 4 and rapidly expanded into a diversified conglomerate with an island-wide network of over 400 outlets.
Abans Founder and Chairperson Aban Pestonjee encouraged people to try this new initiative. “My passion has always been to enhance everyday life for everyone. We strive to be one step ahead in innovation and technology. The ‘Study Buddy’ package will be useful study materials for students as it doesn’t require data or Wi-Fi.”
Mallawarachchi also said it was a challenging time for all and sudden lockdowns for months had disrupted the education system in the country. “Most people are forced to stay indoors and get adapted to virtual lessons and have to pay hefty amounts for data packages. People in rural parts of the country with extreme poverty are those who were highly affected due to curfews and lockdowns.”
The two organisations have also introduced a program called ‘Nana Pahana,’ which distributes free ‘Study Buddy’ packages for 2,000 selected students from different parts of the country.
He said the team was currently working on the process of developing SD cards for Grades 6, 7, 8 and 9. For now, they have only developed a ‘Study Buddy’ bundle for Grade 5 Tamil medium, Grade 10 and Grade 11 in Sinhala and Tamil medium, and the application also contains English for all programs for all ages. He also mentioned that each ‘Study Buddy’ package comes with two practical workbooks that contain 2,500 questions related to the syllabus and three years of past papers are covered as well.
He said according to a recent monthly survey done by the company, it is estimated that a typical parent spends around Rs. 300 a day for data packages. There are several broadband companies working to form concrete plans to bring better broadband to each area. However, high-speed affordable internet is one of the prime issues that affect students in rural areas.
“These are the issues that matter to people and people will talk about all these other issues that don’t have anything to do with their lives every day.»
It was pointed out that inequality between the quality of education in rural and urban schools remains an unresolved challenge. He said this solution was an innovative way to enable access to quality education for children in rural areas.
Pix by Lasantha Kumara
Techsas International Director Sidesh Mallawarachchi
