S Kathiravan, director, Hi End Software Integrated, decided to create a social networking site, Skool Book that looks at educating and the overall development of the student ‘Skool Book’ was launched in July for Classes V and above. From 18 schools, today around 2,400 users from across 117 schools use it on a daily basis. “The idea was to help them gain knowledge and also focus on the after-school concept which is a virgin area that is yet to be tapped,” explains Kathiravan, CEO of the social networking site. Above all, it’s a portal that brings together children, parents and even teachers.
The site runs quizzes based on the syllabus of the classes to help students recollect what is taught at school. These include a general quiz, sports quiz and science quiz and an IT based quiz. “Every week, at least two of the three are posted on the website,” says Kathiravan. “Over the last 18 weeks, we have conducted around 46 competitions,” points out Kathiravan. These activities are meant for those between Classes V and IX as the Class 10 students have a jam-packed schedule. 2. Skool Book is accessed by students across Coimbatore, Tirupur, Erode, Pollachi and Udumelpet
The site has recently launched practice tests for Class 12 in all subjects except English and language. “We are concentrating on the Part-A, which includes 75 multiple choice questions. The tests are prepared by a 14-member team of teachers,” explains Kathiravan. Recently, questions for Physics were uploaded. “We change the questions once in three or four days,” he points out. In addition, students can also clear their doubts, if any, over a chat with an expert on the website.
However, it’s definitely not all academics. It also offers various games and competitions that keep students hooked. They can also chat with other students. “The features are similar to Facebook. However, all their activities on the site are monitored by us. The situation is extremely sensitive and we have a social responsibility to safeguard students,” he explains.
The other aim of the site is to expose the hidden talents of the students. Competitions such as Web Singer and a paper presentation are in the pipeline. “The paper presentation competition is one-of-its kind for students of Class VII and above,” he says. The presentations vary from a PPT (Class VII) and a website based on HTML (Class VIII and above). The team also runs a University-Industry linked programme for students from Class V for the last four years, accredited by Bharathiar University, Bharathidasan University and Karpagam University. “In future, we wish to create job creators and not job seekers,” says Kathiravan. And Skool Book is an attempt to enforcing this dream from the school level. Details at www.skoolbook.in.
— janu1986@gmail.com