KARACHI: Building on the success of their #ExamReady campaign launched last year, TikTok and education-tech startup Edkasa have announced a scholarship programme that will provide online study grants to 18,000 deserving students from across Pakistan, as they look to expand access to quality education.
In September, TikTok partnered with Edkasa and the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) for a first-of-its-kind and yearlong collaboration and launched a digital learning programme to facilitate online education and distance-learning for high school students.
The #ExamReady campaign, designed to help millions of Pakistani students, has over 500 educational videos online, covering chemistry, biology, physics and mathematics, including study tips. The educational videos became an instant favourite of Pakistani students on TikTok, garnering over 665 million views and close to 100 million video creations since its launch.
Teaming up with one of Pakistan’s premier educational institutions, LUMS, the duo will further cement the partnership by awarding students with two months of Edkasa’s free studying material and access to an exam pack for whichever grade/board/exam they opt for.
Farah Tukan — the head of government relations and public policy at TikTok for Middle East, Turkey, Africa, Pakistan and South Asia (METAPSA) — said: “TikTok is a platform that offers diverse content across multiple categories and education remains a key vertical for us. We are happy to play our part in the nationwide promotion of literacy to make a positive impact on the next generation in Pakistan.”
Fahad Tanveer, the co-founder and CEO of Edkasa, said: “We are pleased to see the massive interest and student-offtake in the learning material on TikTok. Pakistan needs this kind of innovative and quality content that helps our young demographics compete with the rest of the world.”
The scholarships will be awarded in accordance with the criteria and guidelines set jointly by Edkasa and LUMS, in agreement with the online driver of the campaign, TikTok.
The scholarships are targeted at disadvantaged communities and open to students from across Pakistan. The aim is to reach the students who don’t have access to quality education.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023