Page 13 - EW August 2021

EW SPOTLIGHT FEATURE
Santosh Khatawate’s mission to digitise schools in tier II-III cities

Quality education for educationally

under-served

he global Coronavirus pandemic Therefore, Khatawate ensured that his
has disrupted day-to-day business company Edubuddy placed equal emphasis
Toperations across the board. on the needs of teachers, principals and
However, it has also played the role of parents alike, besides students of different
a catalyst in enhancing digital learning age groups. Its dashboard has been
through edtech platforms, the usage of designed to accommodate Student Buddy,
which has seen a substantial rise prior to Teach Buddy, School Buddy and Parent
the outbreak of the pandemic. For those Buddy portals for corresponding users.
schools sited in metros and bigger cities, A Solution for a Brighter Future
the transition from physical to digital Edubuddy focuses on creating an
classrooms has been smooth, while those easy-to-use school management system
in rural India and tier II-III cities were and digital content platform for primary
severely hit. It was this disparity in digital and middle school students, till class VIII.
educational facilities that inspired Santosh Santosh Khatawate Besides generating skill-based activities, it
Khatawate. to promote Edubuddy, an CEO also promotes a curriculum that encourages
innovative edtech platform, to empower joyous and relevant learning. Edubuddy
students, educators and parents from also imparts training to teachers, principals,
under-served tier II-III cities with digitalised tier II-III cities. In December 2020, he school admin and staff to help smoothen
education and school management. conceptualised the idea and in February
2021, Edubuddy was born. their transition from conventional to next-
From Passion to Prodigy Within a short span of four months, gen technology-based school management
Born and raised in Karnataka, Santosh Edubuddy was declared as the go-to edtech systems.
Khatawate always shared a deep interest in solution for schools by Education India, as
technology and its myriad applications. After part of its Principals Conclave at Belagavi.
completing his graduation in electrical and The venture went live on June 30, 2021.
electronics engineering in 2001, Khatawate
acquired rich working experience in Catering to the Masses We started Edubuddy to
blue-chip IT companies such as Tata “New-age digital learning has already help schools, especially
Consultancy Services and Infosys. become prevalent in the metros and in tier II-III cities, to
In 2010, Santosh quit corporate life larger cities, and now requires information
to run his family business in the textile technology and school academics to come leverage technology for
manufacturing industry. His passion together for an effcient solution”, says digitised schooling.”
for information technology, however, Khatawate. However, the under-served
continuously inspired him to learn new skills sections of India are still lagging behind
and upgrade existing skills. Consequently, due to a lack of infrastructure, awareness
and accessibility. Edubuddy is solving this
Khatawate developed multiple apps problem with its accessible digital platform,”
including Seedhabech, dedicated to product he says.
marketing of textile factories. Khatawate was also quick to realise
After attending a marketing seminar the gap in edtech in India, which offers “With our expertise and vision, these
conducted by an educational content resources almost entirely to students alone. schools can now take learning experiences
developer, which was also attended by Even prominent players in the field are online, besides events, annual functions,
school principal and friend Dr. Manjeeth more or less student-centric, leaving behind meetings and more. I hope this venture can
Jain, Khatawate initiated a discussion on educators and parents for whom the entire bring about a true revolution in schools, and
the need for a comprehensive, affordable concept and practice of edtech is a new make students, educators, parents and staff
edtech product for schools in mainly experience. more resilient in the future.”

EDUCATIONWORLD AUGUST 2021