BENGALURU: ‘Kanglish’ content on YouTube through Akkas and Annas, developed by a team of nine engineering students from PES University in Bengaluru has come as a blessing to children from 27 districts in Karnataka.
On Saturday, the team ‘Sitara’, which has developed content to teach Maths and Science to Class 10 students, has won the 6th Edition of Azim Premji University’s National Level Science Enterprise Idea Challenge in which 100 teams across the country participated.
Speaking to TNIE, Shriya Shankar, one of the three members of the team, who pitched their idea, said, “In 2019 we went to remand homes in the State and found gap in education. We realised that there were many online content creating videos but there was no personal touch in them, especially the local language. We worked for one year with those children across the State”.
The team then decided to leverage content on YouTube and WhatsApp since these are the most accessible platforms. “We deliver Kanglish lessons taught by Akkas and Annas and provide services via WhatsApp. We have 12,900 children on our Youtube channel and have spent more than 42,000 hours learning from our content. We have more than 31 per cent interact with us personally,” she explained.
The trio–Ananya V, Shriya Shankar and Srushti Jayaramu-- who will be graduating in the next one and half months will quit their careers in engineering and continue full time with ‘Sitara’. Srushti tells TNIE, “The children’s hunger to learn motivated me, and pushed me to work harder.” The content has been appreciated and well received.”
“Anxious students were calling and texting before the Class 10 board exams amid the pandemic. “We helped them reduce their anxiety,” added Shriya. Speaking on the aspect of personal satisfaction and appreciation for their work, Ananya V says, “I used to work with a Class 6 girl from an ashram in Bengaluru, who was shy to speak in front of others. But on Sitara’s one year anniversary she went up on stage and spoke about her experience with us.
It showed that we are not only focusing on education but also building relationships and instilling confidence among the students”. The content is recorded at a studio which has been given out on goodwill, and the team has also managed to get a 60 per cent grant needed this year. A business model has been worked out and the team will continue to create content for first and second PUC students in Maths and Science, strengthen their WhatsApp service and reduce the percentage of unsuccessful candidates in Karnataka.
PES University
Shriya Shankar - B.Tech CSE
Ananya Veeraraghavan - B.Tech CSE
Srushti Jayaramu - B.Des
Sruthy S - B.Tech CSE
Advait Kaluve - B.Tech ECE
Varsha Venkat(Passed out) - B.Tech CSE
Prerna Rao(Passed out) - B.Tech CSE
BMSCE
Samartha S - B.Tech IS
Christ (Deemed to be University)
Malavika Menon - B.A. Political Studies, Economists, Media Studies