STEPapp gamifies learning for K-12 students; Amitabh Bachchan urge students to be self-reliant

The actor had sent in a video message for the event.

Said to be the first of its kind app in India, it is expected to boost  K-12 education in the country.

STEPapp was unveiled by Praveen Tyagi (MD, PACE IIT & Medical, and Founder CEO, Eduisfun Technologies).

Others attending the event were Manisha Verma (IAS, Principal Secretary, Tribal Development Department, Government of Maharashtra), Sainath Durge (BMC Education Committee Member, MCGM), Brian D. Seymour (Principal, G D Somani School, Cuffe Parade), Jyoti Gupta (Principal and Head K12 – DPS), Ramakrishnan Ramamurthi (Chief Executive, Polycab India), Ashish Katta (MD, iCollege Group), Vineet Rai (iCollege Group), Sanjeev Tyagi (IPS Officer, SSP Bijnor), Vijay Raaz (actor), Sandeep Singhal (B.Tech IIT Roorkee), Chief Business Officer of EduisFun Technologies, Deepak Parekh (Chairman, HDFC Group) and Piyush Pandey (Chief Creative Officer Worldwide and Executive Chairman, India, Ogilvy Group).

Mr Amitabh Bachchan and Mr Praveen Tyagi of STEPapp

According to Tyagi, “STEPapp redefines Ed-Tech in India by leveraging gamified learning, story-telling, scholarships and benefits for all stakeholders such as parents, teachers and education policy makers.”

In his message, Amitabh Bachchan said, “The future of our country lies in the education of our children. Praveen Tyagi's STEPapp has made learning interesting and rewarding for students. Teaching children through games is an innovative step. My best wishes are with Mr. Tyagi's team comprising 400 IITians, who have helped create an innovation like STEPapp.”

The app works on the most basic smartphone with minimal data requirement.

It is part of IITian’s PACE family, a group with 20 years of experience in the education sector.

The pricing is such that it is accessible to most people in India, according to the company.

STEPapp starts with building Math and Science proficiency via two programs – STEP Scholar and STEP Learn.

STEP Learn is the learning program for grades 5-11 mapped to complete math and science syllabus of CBSE and ICSE.

It breaks down tough concepts into easy to understand capsules and then tests the children on their learning – in a gamified format.

Students cannot move on to next learning capsule until they answer all question correctly.

Mr Amitabh Bachchan and Mr Praveen Tyagi of STEPapp

And hence it ensures that the kids have conceptual clarity before they move on, according to the company.

STEP Scholar is the scholarship program which gives an opportunity of a lifetime for students to build their own future with scholarships ranging from Rs. 10,000 to Rs. 1 crore from a total pool of Rs. 50 crore.

As an introductory offer, the first one lakh students of each grade will receive STEP Learn (worth Rs. 5,000) gratis for their current grade.

In addition to the big scholarships, students can also win next grade’s STEP Learn free based on their performance.
Mentorship and guidance for the winners through More than 400 IITians and doctors will be mentoring the students, according to the company.

STEPapp's Board syllabus is mapped to the curriculum of school boards such as ICSE and CBSE.

Registrations for STEP Scholar program have already begun.

Students from 5th to 11th standards are eligible to register in this program.

STEPapp is collaborating with several business partners, including YES Bank as banking partner, PACE as knowledge partner, and PayTM and iCollege as strategic alliance partners.

STEPapp plans to launch many other apps in the future to gamify education and introduce newer ways to learn.

Deepak Parekh, Chairman, HDFC Group, said, “India has to make education acceptable and enjoyable for students by transforming teaching. The entire education system has to change towards storytelling and gamified learning. One more interesting way is to induce competitiveness in the game form where students compete with each other to solve the puzzle in quick time and then the winners get prizes or recognition. I wish Eduisfun and Praveen Tyagi best of luck in their endeavour.”

Ad man Piyush Pandey said, “India has a fantastic tradition of good teachers but we are unfortunate that these teachers are not sufficient to cater to the large number of students. In many parts of India, bright students have to make a hard choice between the pen and the ‘parivar’ (family). STEPapp’s Student Talent Enhancement Program is a fantastic way of gamified education - inexpensive, friendly and futuristic."

STEPapp has been implemented in 16 Eklavya Model Residential Schools run by The Tribal Development Department under the Maharashtra Government.

All Andheri Municipal Corporation Schools are scheduled to run the STEPapp after running a trial with the students, according to the company.