Haldwani: Those who strive to do something different are the ones who establish their identity in unique ways. In metropolitan cities, EdTech is viewed as a modern startup that offers education to students from the comfort of their homes. The internet infrastructure in these cities is also excellent. But can you imagine people in Uttarakhand leaving their jobs to enter this field? Their aim is to eliminate illiteracy, unemployment, and migration issues in Uttarakhand. In Nainital district, two teachers have decided to work in this sector, and shortly after starting, the state government honored them.
Deepak Pant and the Launch of VedaShree Academy
In January 2016, Deepak Pant and a few fellow teachers launched a coaching center called “VedaShree Academy” in Haldwani. At that time, Deepak Pant was working at the Amrapali Group of Institutes.
Establishment of “Guruji Uttarakhandi” YouTube Channel
Observing the success of the coaching classes, Deepak started a YouTube channel called “Guruji Uttarakhandi” in April 2017. He began explaining how to prepare for government jobs in Uttarakhand. Gradually, more teachers joined the channel, and today it has 12 teachers and over 55,000 students.
Deepak Pant started understanding the issues in Uttarakhand and decided to address illiteracy, unemployment, and migration problems. To achieve this, he met many people, including a fellow teacher from Amrapali, Ashish Saxena. Together, they founded VedaShree Learning Private Limited on March 15, 2018. The mission of VedaShree Learning is to eliminate illiteracy, unemployment, and migration issues in Uttarakhand. The company currently employs 4 staff members and 12 teachers alongside the two founders.
Launch of the VedaShree Learning App and its Impact
Apart from “Guruji Uttarakhandi,” VedaShree Learning also manages several other YouTube channels and coaching channels in Haldwani. In February 2020, their efforts were recognized when they were placed in the top 10 startups in the Uttarakhand Government Startup Challenge 2019 and awarded ₹50,000.
During the first COVID-19 lockdown in 2020, VedaShree launched an app that quickly garnered over 6,000 downloads. Currently, through the VedaShree Learning app, students from Uttarakhand and across the country are preparing for government jobs. Many students have already been selected for various government positions. Additionally, Deepak Pant and his colleague Arun Gupta are providing high-quality education to underprivileged children in Uttarakhand through some NGOs in partnership with VedaShree Academy. Their slogan is, “Now educate an entire village with the fee of one child.”
Future Vision for Educating Every Child in Uttarakhand
The team believes that with support from some local NGOs, village heads, or other enlightened social figures in Uttarakhand, they can educate every child in Uttarakhand from Haldwani itself. For this, they only need the fee of one child per village. They have successfully collaborated with the Happy Children Library in Gram Sim (Po Dhaniyakot, Nainital district) and the Betaleshwar Seva Samiti in Betalghat for this initiative. The team believes that by leveraging technology and uniting others, the problems of illiteracy, unemployment, and migration in Uttarakhand can be solved.
