SBI becomes the first corporate partner of

 SBI becomes the first corporate partner of edX
from India to offer Massive Open Online Courses

 

• SBI to offer its Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) on the edX platform
• Learners can pursue Unleashing Creativity at the Workplace, Relationship Marketing Strategy for Financial Services, and  Conflict Resolution courses on the platform
• The enrollment of these courses with a duration of 4-6 weeks is now open

 

In an aim to develop skill sets of career-oriented individuals in this fast-paced competitive world, the country’s largest lender State Bank of India (SBI) enters into a strategic partnership with trusted global non-profit education platform - edX. As part of this association, SBI will be offering its Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) on the edX platform from November 2020 onwards.

 

Initially, the bank will be offering three courses - Unleashing Creativity at the Workplace, Relationship Marketing Strategy for Financial Services, and  Conflict Resolution. The duration of these courses would be for four to six weeks, with an expected spend of two to three hours per week on a course. Interested learners need no specific academic qualifications to apply for the same.  The enrollment of these courses is now open.

 

The bank’s collaboration with edX is aimed at facilitating learners with expanding perspectives and access to knowledge beyond the classrooms. These courses have been curated and designed by practicing bankers possessing rich experience and excellent academic credentials. Career-oriented individuals across the globe may find these courses advantageous for them to gather versatile learnings to add value to their careers.

 

Mr. Dinesh Khara, Chairman, State Bank of India, said, “It gives me immense pleasure to announce SBI’s partnership with edX which is one of the biggest MOOCs platforms. MOOCs are fast gaining popularity among students and working professionals as they offer an opportunity for any time, anywhere learning. I am confident that this collaboration will benefit millions of learners, career-oriented individuals, and organizations across the globe.”

 

Mr. Anant Agarwal, CEO of edX and Professor at MIT, said: “SBI has been using edX for Business as part of their workforce development initiatives, which has been very successful with employees since first implemented. We’re thrilled to expand our work together and welcome them as our first corporate partner from India on edX, with the launch of their first courses in strategy, creativity and marketing that are relevant for professionals and organizations everywhere.”

upGrad doubles classes, courses and capacity

upGrad doubles classes, courses and capacity to deal with the surge in demand for online learning

The edtech major recorded 72% growth in learners onboarded in April – aims to double its revenue by June 2020

Edtech major upGrad, India’s largest higher education provider just moved their start dates for all their 40 courses to start every month instead of quarterly, to take on the surge in demand from working professionals. This has more than doubled their course capacity, and each class now has a peak of 1000 learners at a given time.

“The larger the class in online, the more active the peer-to-peer learning and so it’s the inverse of offline learning,” says Ronnie Screwvala, Co-founder and Executive Chairman, upGrad. 

"Last month we reached 5, 00,000 learners for our online programs, which is no mean feat in itself. Now take into consideration that our average ARPU is INR 2.5 lakhs. Yet, we are only at the very start of addressing a market of over 100 million working professionals and graduates." continues Screwvala.

This quarter, upGrad’s revenues will cross an annual run rate of INR 500 Cr with the launch of their Live Learning platform free of cost to multiple colleges and universities, to replicate their classrooms online and address their students during the Covid-19 period seamlessly. The company also separately recorded 10,000 enrollments for their 350 hours of free courses initiated during this period.