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To cost-cut effort and address the imminent liquidity crisis, Byju’s has given up all offices across India, retaining only its headquarters at IBC, Knowledge Park, Bengaluru, as per reports.

This comes at a time when the company has been engaged in a dispute with its investors regarding the validity of the funds raised from a recently concluded rights issue offering.

As a result of the decision, the company has now mandated that all employees work from home indefinitely, except for those working out of its headquarters and approximately 300 Byju's Tuition Centres across the country.

This also comes at a time when the company has held back part of February salaries for about 75 percent of its employees. The company currently has close to 14,000 employees in India. Byju's, disbursed the payments after delaying it for about 10 days and promised to pay the balance once it is allowed to use the funds from the recently closed rights issue.

The decision to shut down all offices in the country was a part of the Byju's India CEO Arjun Mohan's restructuring plan, as per reports.

“This has been in works for over six months. The company has been shutting down offices across country as soon the lease for each expired," said a source.

The company has laid off thousands of employees in the last 12 months as it battled a double blow of drying venture capital funding and slowing demand for online learning services. Since then, its investor board members have left too, citing differences with Raveendran.

The company has tried to fix some of the problems since then. Its early investor Ranjan Pai ploughed in the capital, it set up an advisory council with veterans such as Mohandas Pai and Rajnish Kumar and elevated Arjun Mohan as CEO. It is also in talks to divest assets such as Great Learning and Epic.

BYJU's gives up all offices across India; retains only headquarters in Bengaluru

Byju’s said it disbursed a part of the pending salaries for all employees for February and promised to pay the balance once it is allowed to use the funds from the recently closed rights issue, as per a Moneycontrol report.

“We processed part salaries for everyone for February late night on Friday to the extent of capital we could get outside the rights issue. The company will pay the balance once the rights issue funds are available, which we expect shortly," said the company, in a letter to employees.

The company’s management added that it expects the salaries to be reflected in employee accounts on March 11, as it was delayed due to a second Saturday and on account of the long weekend, the report further revealed.

This comes after founder Byju Raveendran said the company will pay salaries by March 10, after it was unable to pay salaries to employees as the funds raised through a recent rights issue have been locked in a "separate account" due to the ongoing dispute with the investors.

“In the interim, we have made alternate funding arrangements to ensure your daily lives are not disrupted. Our commitment to serving our students with the passion and dedication they deserve remains as strong as ever, and we are taking all necessary measures to continue our operations smoothly,” the company added.

This comes as the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) in its order passed on February 27 directed the edtech company to keep funds received from the rights issue in an escrow account till the disposal of the oppression and mismanagement plea filed by four of the company's investors.


The company has laid off thousands of employees in the last 12 months as it battled a double blow of drying venture capital funding and slowing demand for online learning services. Since then, its investor board members have left too, citing differences with Raveendran.

The company has tried to fix some of the problems since then. Its early investor Ranjan Pai ploughed in the capital, it set up an advisory council with veterans such as Mohandas Pai and Rajnish Kumar and elevated Arjun Mohan as CEO. It is also in talks to divest assets such as Great Learning and Epic.



Byju's disburses part of pending salaries for employees; promises to pay the balance from rights issue fund

Edtech firm Byju’s tried to grow too fast undermining corporate discipline and young entrepreneurs should learn from such mistakes, according to Union Minister of State for IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar, as per reports.

“It was a company that tried to grow too fast, without creating the rigour and corporate discipline that a growth company like that should have at a time when money was flowing and equity was cheap… Eventually, that cycle always turns,” Chandrasekhar said at the Mumbai Tech Week organised by Tech Entrepreneurs Association of Mumbai, on February 19.

“So if you are not smart at that time and don’t learn from those who came before you, you will make mistakes and I think, Byju’s is that mistake,” he added.

This comes at a time when some of the most highly valued startups, including Byju's, Paytm, Ola, and Dream11, have come under fire for a range of issues, casting a shadow on India’s technology and startup ecosystem.

When asked about the government’s stance on the gaming sector, Chandrasekhar said that it is a crucial segment of the economy that requires encouragement and support.

“I’m a big bullish supporter of the gaming sector. It is just so mixed up in terms of perception with all the other bad actors in that segment of real money, which are betting and money laundering. So we are progressively going down a road of creating a framework to allow safe infrastructure and permissible gaming. I would request entrepreneurs to keep faith,” he said.

The minister also added that companies like Ola that are building in a new industry are expected to counter challenges and pushback.

“All four examples that were mentioned are extremely human sorts of problems,” he said. The minister added that entrepreneurs make mistakes and it is a natural course of building a business.

“There is a thing about discipline that some people instinctively get and some people need to take a couple of losses to understand. These issues should not necessarily be understood as something that defines entrepreneurship,” Chandrasekhar added.

The minister said that there will always be people who will be smart and tend to avoid mistakes along with those who make the mistakes.

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Young entrepreneurs should learn from Byju's mistakes: MoS IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar

Education has been one of the most misleading sectors when it comes to advertising, says an Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) report.

The report "Raising the Bar on edtech Advertising" published this year says that 31 out of the 100 ads analysed made superlative claims about having the best and largest resource, such as the best teachers, largest faculty, top educators, best study materials, best tuitions, etc.

More than 25 percent of ads make promises like helping students improve marks or guarantee success.

The report said that aggrieved parents have spoken out in large numbers on social media, in order to bring attention to issues around infrastructure, quality of teachers and refund of fees, etc.

According to the report, edtech communication was skewed towards traditional and popularly acceptable domains rather than encouraging curious self-learners inclined towards unconventional career choices.

Experts prefer ads that celebrated children as being unique and created an intimidating vibe to exams that was equated to ‘children going to war.’

The panel of educationists who drafted the report was also in favour of ads highlighting group learning, as they reinforced the importance of social skills, particularly after the extended isolation forced by the pandemic.

While the ASCI had issued detailed guidelines on advertising for the larger education sector as early as 2013, it may be time to consider a review to address the new concerns.

Most ads focus on maths, science

The ASCI report further showed that representation is skewed towards boys even though four in five edtech ads show kids. Only one in every four ads depicted both boys and girls as the protagonists. For the role of the single protagonist, boys were chosen 1.8x times over girls.

In ads showing maths as a subject, boys were chosen as the protagonists in almost four of 10 ads. Ads showcasing science as a subject fared better, showing boys, girls, or both, as the main character almost equally.

The report also showed that the majority of the ads focus on maths and science, and only about a fifth depict other subjects. Interactions with parents showed that those belonging to metro cities were more concerned about ads that feature mainly maths and science as subjects. They also found extra-curricular activities missing from the ads.

‘Only 55 ads out of 100 depicted teachers’


ASCI analysed 100 ads and found out that while 55 depicted a teacher, only 14 had an active role for the teacher, or showed an active teacher-student interaction.

Out of those, teachers were shown being compassionate or encouraging only in nine ads. Of the 55 ads that featured teachers, 39 showed men as teachers, while 29 showed women teachers. Among ads depicting celebrities, 32 of the 33 had male celebrities as the lead. Film actors were present in 28, and sports stars in five.

The report found out that nine in 10 parents feel ads are important, and hence trust these ads.

Multitasking parents heavily depend on information shared through advertisements while making choices about classes/ courses in which to enrol their child. Edtech users attach significantly higher importance and trust in advertisements. Parents from non-metros are also seen trusting these ads more than parents from metros.

31 out of 100 edtech ads made superlative claims: ASCI report

Byju’s employee took to LinkedIn and shared a tearful video on LinkedIn and said that  the edtech company has been forcing her to resign. As per a News18 report, in case she doesn’t, they have threatened to withhold her salary beyond August 1. As of now, she has allegedly been marked for lay off. Recognised as Akansha Khemka, the woman is an academic specialist. She said that she is the sole breadwinner of the house and would be driven to die by suicide if Byjus does not release all her dues.


Khemka, an academic specialist revealed she is the sole breadwinner of the house and she would be driven to commit suicide if Byju's does not release all her dues. She had been working with the company for about a year and a half.


In the video, a tearful Khemka is seen saying, "I was abruptly told in a meeting that I have to quit the company by July 28 or else I won't get my salary on August 1. They'll need around 30-35 more days. I am the only earning member in the family, my husband is unwell, I have loans to repay, how will I survive if they don't release my salary on the first?"

She also stated that if she was given at least a month's notice by the company, she would have been able to find another job and not be left in the lurch by the end of the month. 
Khemka shared that s if the video got better reach,  the company  might feel presurrized to clear her salary and her other dues. 

In the LinkedIn post, she wrote, “I want support from the government please help me out and give justice to me in this crucial situation. Please help me out. If there is no way out after this post then I have to end my life. there is no option left as I will not get my salary on 1st August If I opt for involuntary exit. I don't have any money to survive and I request all LinkedIn family members to share the video as much as you can. I request our government please help me and other employees from this toxic work culture. Byjus is doing fraud from all the sides including employees and customers . I WANT JUSTICE, KINDLY DO THE NEEDFUL.”
 




"Please help me out and give justice to me," says Byju's employee in a tearful video

The world is in the midst of an innovation era, and its impact on lives and livelihoods has never been more significant. As a teacher for more than 15 years, witnessing technology empower young India with the right education, skills, and learning mindset is astounding.

From a system-wide disruption to the rapid adoption of digital education, the learning lives of our youth are evolving, empowering them to reach their full potential. In keeping technology at the forefront of development—as we rapidly transition to a knowledge economy—our burgeoning young population finds itself at the centre of this innovation revolution.

This precedes over two decades of reforms, policy interventions, and an emphasis on nurturing tech ecosystems. This rapid progression raises a fundamental question: how can stakeholders of the digital economy steer new technologies toward national prosperity, fulfill key global priorities, and create an equitable world?

The answer lies in the basics - education.

Empowering people, communities, and economies

Equality, inclusion, and equity are the foundations of society, and education forms the fulcrum of this triad. It spurs the development of thought, freedom, and agency. It empowers people, communities, and economies. Yet, across the world, more than 72 million children are not able to gain access to an adequate education. In India, which is home to one of the largest education systems, only about 43% of the roughly 255 million youth in the 15–25 age group are enrolled in educational institutions.

But, what is it that keeps education out of reach for millions? A UNICEF report points to the lack of qualified teachers, inadequate teaching materials, and poor sanitation. The most striking of these observations, however, is that the lack of education is not only due to poor access, but also a direct consequence of the poor quality of teaching.

This presents all stakeholders – government, industry, and academia – a massive opportunity to bring a large, untapped population into the fold through last-mile, tech-driven, high-quality education and truly leverage the power of a young demographic. Technology’s role in advancing equitable development through digital empowerment is a tangible and critical piece of this puzzle.

From empowering teachers with tools and training to predicting and solving students' learning needs, technology in the development and delivery of education provides a long-term, sustainable solution to make it more accessible, cost-effective, and scaled-up for millions of learners. In fact, the World Bank, in a report, has also stated that the global adoption of edtech solutions enabled continuous, seamless, and accessible education during the pandemic.

Prioritizing inclusivity, infrastructure, governance, and quality-related outcomes is a key measure today, and India’s dynamic edtech ecosystem is critical to achieving this.

Solving for billions

People, ideas, and capital fuel innovation. The Indian edtech ecosystem, in particular, is leveraging these three tenets to create high-quality education products and learning solutions to truly empower not just students but also teachers, parents, and other stakeholders around the world. By meeting the shifting needs of learners – from tech-powered virtual learning during the pandemic to innovative hybrid formats – the ecosystem continues to mature and expand globally.

From a policy lens as well, initiatives such as Digital India and the National Education Policy 2020 are set to help India take a big step forward in making education at par with global needs, transforming future challenges into opportunities, and strengthening a culture of inclusion and innovation.


Defining the global narrative

Education is an equalizer, and technology is a powerful driver. Their convergence has the potential to unlock learning opportunities for millions and take India into the next phase of growth. India’s entrepreneurial prowess is well placed to achieve this.

Data and demographic dividends combined with India's proven tech prowess also present a massive opportunity for the startup ecosystem to script India’s growth for the coming decades. Our growing commitment to using technology to advance key global priorities is reflected in initiatives such as the launch of the Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution in India in partnership with the World Economic Forum.

As the speed of innovation propels economies towards new models of productivity, value creation, and automation, the emerging drivers of growth will completely transform the skills required to contribute to the economy. A futuristic, tech-driven, first-mover approach to high-quality and inclusive education will be crucial to meet these new demands.

By capitalising on technical and entrepreneurial advances, India is demonstrating its strong commitment to achieving balanced, inclusive, and sustainable development over the next 75 years. I truly believe that any successful model in India that uses technology to create a more inclusive and sustainable society can be replicated in other economies, affecting billions of people.

EDTECH