Gone are the days when preparing for an exam meant pouring over thick textbooks and question banks. Now, with information at your fingertips, preparing for competitive exams has just become easier in ways more than one. Testifying to this fact is SuperProfs.com, India’s largest online test preparation platform.
With the expertise of over 150 reputed professors from different parts of the country, the website offers students unlimited access to HD video lectures even at a bandwidth as low as 100 kbps. From entrance tests to professional exams, the courses available include IIT-JEE, GATE, CA, CS, CMA, Actuarial Science and UPSC. The Bengaluru-based startup, which was set up in January 2014, recently launched its smartphone app which ensures students have better access to the content anytime, anywhere. With over two lakh registrants so far, SuperProfs is one of the fastest growing websites in the online exam preparation arena.
Driven by the thought of helping students across the country in preparing for exams and tests, Piyush Agrawal, CEO and founder of the website, constantly strives to reach out to more aspirants. “Very often, students in small towns may have to relocate to cities to attend exam coaching classes. Affordability is another issue as such courses are charged very high,” the edutech entrepreneur says. SuperProfs uses a modern technology which allows live transmission of HD quality videos. The lectures can be viewed anytime a student wishes to, without worrying about buffering or high-speed internet.
With his innovative venture, Piyush has succeeded in taking exam coaching to a different level, letting students enrol for courses at a far less price, within the comfort of their homes, using a laptop, tablet or smartphone. As recognition of his enterprising skills, he was recently named ‘Entrepreneur of the Year in Service Business – Education’ at the Entrepreneur India Awards 2015.
Piyush believes the website’s biggest highlight is the kind of professors chosen for each course. “We partner with some of the best professors in the country so that students get the best content possible.” Their rigorous process of selecting qualified educators starts with mapping India into different regions and identifying top academicians in each region through online surveys conducted among students. “We have a dedicated on-ground team to verify this information and shortlist 15-20 teachers, whom we then talk to,” adds Piyush. After recording their classroom sessions, the quality of the content is verified and the material is constantly updated. The professors also interact with the students on a regular basis to answer their queries.
With the appealing prospect of reaching out to a larger number of students, combined with the possibility of additional income without putting in extra effort, more and more educators seem interested in the concept of online educational platforms. Piyush notes that the flexibility offered by the online medium is another factor that attracts teachers. “Professors working at a coaching centre for, say, IIT-JEE, may never get time to continuously update their knowledge. They are also physically limited by the infrastructure to accommodate students.”
How does SuperProfs cater to students with varying levels of grasping power? “Some learners may be weak in certain areas. We have a recommendation engine which uses data from algorithms to analyze a student’s weak areas and recommend content accordingly,” explains Piyush. While his online venture is a major example of the changing paradigm of education in India, he does not believe technology can replace teachers. “They can’t be replaced. But technology can help them reach more students.”
Talking about the future plans for SuperProfs, Piyush says, “Considering demands for tests like TOEFL, IELTS and GMAT, we hope to introduce more online courses, over the next year.” Given the fast-paced growth of the SuperProfs mobile app, he also intends to reach out to more students in small towns using the mobile platform.
