BasicFirst is an e-learning platform with a personal touch. A group of professionals and academic experts got together with Randhir Kumar Priyadarshi, the Founder and CEO of the firm, to prepare students from Classes 6 to 12 to tackle every test and major examination that come their way. Randhir says that he believes that one-size-fits-all approach is not applicable in the education sector. Excerpts from the conversation about their new programmes, education and much more:
How would you say BasicFirst stands out in comparison to other services available in the market?
BasicFirst provides e-learning solution for students studying in Class 6 to 12 — covering syllabi of 22 Boards including CBSE, ICSE and State Boards. Our commitment to offer a doubt-free and affordable learning experience to our students is something that gives us an edge over others. We offer a unique Doubt Clearing programme that is available 24x7 with a record response time of a maximum of 60 minutes.
How does the Doubt Clearing programme work?
We believe that having doubt-free learning is the key to success for every student. Our Doubt Clearing programme is organised to address all the queries a student might have. The programme covers all competitive exams — JEE Advanced, JEE Main, NEET, BITSAT, ACT, WBJEE, SAT, HBBVS, NDA, AIIMS and more — and Class 6 through 12 for all the boards (CBSE, ICSE, and State Boards). The programme makes it stress-free for students to connect with teachers and get their queries resolved. Students just have to select the package as per their requirement and select a class, board, exam, subjects and year of exam and purchase a package. Students can get their doubts cleared by interacting/asking with our expert teachers available 24x7 via email, chat, voice call and video calls. As far as improving our programme is concerned, we have a robust research team working diligently towards reducing response time on our platform to 30 minutes, which is currently 60 minutes, and we also have plans of providing responses in real-time.
How are you associated with the professors? Is it a full-time gig for them or they formulate study material and give tips?
We have full-time dedicated staff of over 75 teachers and professors operating 24x7 through our call centre. We are committed to increase the count to 1,250 by March 2020. We want to explore a new dimension — how education is imparted to students in India. We want our educators to grow with us and provide unique avenues for growth and development to them.
Why do you think the rent-a-tablet concept will strike a chord? How much is the subscription/rent for the tab?
In the era of digital learning where affordability of learning devices is a major issue, we provide branded tablets on a very minimal rent starting from Rs 750 per month. Using these tablets, students can not only prepare and practice online tests but also get their doubts cleared through personalised sessions with highly experienced faculties. Unlike others in the business, BasicFirst doesn’t restrict the usage of tab only to its own content. Using these rental tablets students are free to search and explore any educational content available online.
In the draft NEP, the government spoke about promoting digital education and online courses. Your views.
We welcome and appreciate the government's initiative to promote digital education and online courses. Our ideology is in sync with thoughts of the government, which reflects in our business model and products as well. Children are the future of our nation and therefore, it is imperative that they are provided with necessary means to realise their potential. Digitalising the education system can channelise efforts in this direction. There is a grave shortage of qualified teachers, highly disproportionate student-teacher ratio, and inadequate teaching materials that affect the quality of education. Education must be digitised by providing multimedia teaching tools to teachers and engaging students through learning methods that utilise digital tools. By making it possible for one teacher to deliver information remotely across several locations, interactive digital media will also help address the shortage of teachers.
What are your plans for the future?
Our dream is to change the educational landscape for children, where mitigating doubts are no more a concern for them. We intend to have rechargers for our services, through our edupreneurial initiatives, which are geared towards creating women edupreneurs, in every pin code of the country.
