BYJU’S And The Akshaya Patra Foundation Join Forces To Support Underprivileged Students

BENGALURU:
BYJU’S, the world’s leading edtech company, has partnered with The Akshaya Patra Foundation in an endeavor to strengthen its mission to provide students access to quality education and positively impact the lives of underprivileged children. Launched under BYJU’S social initiatives effort ‘Education For All’, this collaboration aims to provide continuity of learning to around 2 lakh underprivileged children across multiple states including remote areas of the country, even as schools remain partially closed.

The digital education initiative, also a part of Akshaya Patra’s flagship National Endeavour for Student Transformation (NEST) initiative, seeks to engage the education system to complement the quality of education through collective efforts. With this collaboration, BYJU’S will offer high-quality and tech-driven learning programmes by providing free streaming licenses and smart classrooms to the students.

Speaking on the initiative, Divya Gokulnath, Co-founder, BYJU’S said, “BYJU’S has a strong vision to undertake various transformative social initiatives for the upliftment of children across different sections of society and bridge the gap between quality education and digital access. We are delighted to collaborate with the Akshaya Patra Foundation which has been working relentlessly to boost meal programmes for school children in India. Our partnership with them is a significant step towards making a lasting impact on the development of children’s welfare through education and well-being. The cornerstone of our philosophy is centered around bringing a tangible impact to our existing education ecosystem, and we are honoured to have
partnered with The Akshaya Patra Foundation and strengthen our social impact initiative, Education for All.”

The collaborative initiative aims to empower children in Government and aided schools by providing an interactive and innovative learning experience with access to a world-class digital platform and professionally-curated content. To start with, BYJU’S and Akshaya Patra, along with the Government of Uttarakhand, have already launched a free education program for children from economically weaker sections.

Shridhar Venkat, CEO, The Akshaya Patra Foundation, said “At Akshaya Patra, our constant endeavours are to ensure that no child is deprived of education due to hunger. We do what we do to further the cause of education, a fundamental right of every child, irrespective of their socio-economic backgrounds. We firmly believe that digital inclusiveness can help in creating a world where children from economically weaker sections do not have to forfeit opportunities because of affordability or accessibility issues. This collaboration with BYJU’S is our attempt to bridge the digital divide and further digital inclusiveness by providing children good quality, modern education free of cost.”

He further added, “The Government, on its part, has been making considerable efforts to provide quality education to children studying in Government and aided schools. This initiative is our attempt to proactively contribute to the Government’s concerted efforts on this front.”

The collaboration is of many efforts of The Akshaya Patra Foundation’s flagship initiative, National Endeavour for Student Transformation (NEST), whose goal is to create a conducive environment in schools to contribute to students’ learning outcomes whilst providing them an enjoyable schooling experience.

In this pursuit, the Foundation has found an able ally in the form of BYJU’S who have been striving to take digital learning to as many children as possible through their social initiatives, giving these children a chance at remote learnings.

Launched in 2020, ‘Education for All’ is BYJU’S flagship social initiative program that aims to democratise education and ensure that every child has an opportunity to learn. The program is committed to empowering children in the most remote geographies and underserved communities through tech-driven learning. With a mission to empower 5 million underprivileged children by 2025, the company has partnered with 100 NGOs across 26 states to bring a positive systemic change to the education ecosystem.