Skolera: A Unified Learning System Founded by a Brilliant Egyptian to Develop Education

When Computer Science Graduate Khadija ElBedwihy went to do a PhD in Human-Computer Interaction at Sheffield University, she found that her academic level was less than that of her peers, even though she was at the top of her class in Cairo University.

“I became like them or even better in a short period of time. It has nothing to do with our intellectual capability, the problem is within the educational system, and maybe this is what pushed me to work in education,” Elbedwihy told EgyptInnovate.

Elbedwehy founded Skolera, a learning management system platform, in 2015. The platform offers a number of digital solutions to facilitate the educational process such as digital classes, and it allows teachers to easily finish their tasks. Today, around 35 schools in Egypt, Oman, Saudi Arabia, and Kenya use Skolera. The Egyptian Ministry of Education also announced recently that Skolera will be used in the Egyptian Nile schools.

“We have a very strong Egyptian product that can compete with any international product, and we know that the Ministry of Education will head towards inclusive digital solutions sooner or later because recently there’s been a lot of talk about the tablet and electronic exams...we’re trying to share this project with them,” Elbedwihy continued.

Impact

"The value that we offer is facilitating communication and collaboration in everything that has to do with education...If I can summarize everything in one sentence, it’s improving the quality and outcomes of education, at the end of the day, our lives depend on the outcome of education.”

Parents are one of the most important actors that Skolera deals with, Elbedwehy mentioned that one time, a student’s mother contacted her on Facebook just to thank her. She was able to track everything about her daughter’s education at school. Skolera offers parents a mobile application that allows them to easily track what lessons their children are currently studying.

“We got the exact same feedback from the school. Saving time, money, and effort of the teachers is priceless. For example, instead of teachers having to having type an assignment, print it in many copies and give it out to students, in just a couple of clicks, they’re able to finish the assignment and publish to many classes at the same time. We also have quizzes that are automatically graded, it all becomes much easier.”

Challenges

“In the education sector, the cycle is a bit long to be able to convince people with your idea, but once the product is displayed it becomes easier. We also get calls from schools instead of us going to them because of word of mouth...schools are very related to each other and there are people who own more than one school, so when you reach just one person, you reach many after them,”

“The other challenge is that we’re currently raising investment. We can sustain our operations, but to scale and get a market share quickly, you need money to expand in more markets.”

Funding and Achievements

Skolera’s founding team first started with funding from family and friends, and now Skolera is raising funds to expand their operations, and it’s expected that they will announce an investment within a few months.

The startup won a lot of awards including Bahrain Tech Award in 2018 for its effort in developing the management of the educational process at schools. The award criteria include innovation and creativity.

Skolera was also chosen among the top 20 learning management systems worldwide based on user experience.

Advice for Aspiring Entrepreneurs

“You need to choose your team members wisely and they must be loyal, committed, and capable of overcoming challenges with you...now many people are talking about the acquisition of Careem company and how some employees became millionaires. The challenges are difficult but they’re very rewarding when you scale. Your team members also must know that they will make some sacrifices,” Elbedwihy concluded