Website: https://nauchi.bg/
Brief description of the organisation/initiative
Nauchi.bg is an online platform that connects proven teachers with students for online private lessons. Everything – from finding, saving, to conducting lessons – happens on the platform, eliminating the need for other channels and software.
Nauchi.bg helps students receive quality private lessons regardless of their location and at the same time makes teachers in rural areas more competitive. The platform helps teachers in small towns to significantly increase their income and seeks to create an environment conducive to the formation of communities of teachers, students and parents.
Challenge overview
Covid-19 pandemic was a real test for the Bulgarian education system. The digital transition was difficult for teachers, students and parents. According to UNICEF (2021), at least 50000 school-aged children were left behind and every fifth student reports worse educational outcomes than before. The pandemic has brought the need for smart solutions that have the potential to reduce the rising inequalities among students. To answer the current challenges before students, the creators of Nauchi.bg have focused on broader opportunities for students in rural areas to take private lessons from qualified teachers despite the geographic distance.
Establishment of the organisation/initiative/enterprise
Georgi Kirilov and Daniel Tuechki have always imagined that they will develop their own projects to automate existing processes. Daniel developed a platform for booking classes and services EasyBooker, and Georgi – LesnaMatura – software for preparation for state exams. Georgi and Daniel both participated in the ABLE Activator, where they have discovered a common passion to create and have a positive impact on the world. Of paramount importance is the support of mentors – proven professionals in various fields. They advise, guide and support Georgi and Daniel in the most difficult moments.
The birth of the idea for Nauchi.bg took place at a Christmas gathering, where Georgi and Daniel met. After a 3-hour conversation, they already know they want to create something together.
They started with the idea of an online platform to make it easier to save different types of orders, as Daniel is the creator of Easy Booker software and Georgi worked on Advisor Live. The two software products turn out to be quite similar – they offer an online reservation system with payments, which in the end the two decided to use as a basis for their new project – Nauchi.bg. They turn to education because they notice how backward the processes in formal education are and they want to contribute to a change in this direction. Nauchi.bg has been under development since December 23, 2020.
Management structure and governance
Group of two software engineers (Georgi Kirilov and Daniel Tuechki) have developed the platform. After building the software solution, the two co-founders created the necessary infrastructure, user-friendly design, reservation system, one for online payments and many other finishing details. Currently, they work with two advisers who are entrepreneurs in the digital sector.
Principles of work, objectives and activities
The vision of Nauchi.bg project is to connect proven teachers with students from all over Bulgaria online. This will give children from small towns an equal chance to compete with their peers from big cities, and the skills of teachers across the country will be more rewarded.
Apart from private lessons online, the Nauchi.bg platform provides an opportunity to exchange teaching materials between the teachers themselves. In the section “Materials” are published teaching books, information posters and other useful resources that Bulgarian teachers can use in the education of their students.
The next step is to create a community of teachers who actively share teaching methods and materials in a common online environment. As these materials are available to any teacher or student. And as part of the organisational team of the entrepreneurship program they try to stimulate entrepreneurship in Bulgaria, to attach people to the startup ecosystem in the country and direct them to the right tools for business development.
Target groups
Nauchi.bg targets two groups: 1) students and youth and 2) verified teachers and educational staff.
Innovation
The innovativeness of Nauchi.bg is in individual approach and special attention. For private lessons, the teacher complies with the needs of the student. For example – how does the student study best? How does he or she remember information – by looking at it, listening to it, through practical tasks, while writing?
Nauchi.bg offers a vast choice of teachers and educational staff. The platform expands students’ opportunities to personally choose their teachers.
Impact and Evaluation
The positive impact of the platform can be measured with the numbers of work and users. More than 5800 hours were spent by the two co-founders developing the platform and the business model. They conducted over 180 customer interviews with teachers, parents and students to ensure that the product is valuable for all three target groups. Currently, there are more than 170 teachers registered to the platform from 16 different fields of study. The active users are more than 380, while social network followers are more than 5200.
Recommendations
The best practices can be transferred in other countries and contexts. The educational platforms should be adopted to the training needs of students in the respective country. Nauchi.bg has conducted research, in which the tremendous needs of private lessons for students in 7th and 12th grades have been identified. Hence, the platform creators focus on ensuring validated and qualified teachers that can support students in the preparation for the state exams.
Lessons Learned
One of the things the team realises is that when you run your own business, you have a huge responsibility. Responsibility to customers, investors and partners, without working hours. Entrepreneurs are often considered to be people with an awful lot of freedom, when quite the opposite. You often have to sacrifice your personal life at the expense of business. But undoubtedly the biggest problems that a team of entrepreneurs has to deal with are those in the team of entrepreneurs. Differences in expectations and misunderstandings can be a major stumbling block for a startup. Successful business development will require good communication, listening, mutual respect and compromise. After all, we are all human beings, and those who do business are no exception. As for deadlines, accounting, legal documents, software bugs and things that do not go according to plan … It is just everyday. These are not problems.
References
UNICEF (2021). Rapid Assessment of COVID-19 impact on education in Bulgaria. 9 August, UNICEF.
Photo credit: BNR Sofia
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