Nearpeer Founders : Shahrukh & Ammar

Shahrukh: Educationist. Co-founder Nearpeer. Tech Enthusiast

Ammar: Co-founder Nearpeer. Education Enthusiast. Business Strategist

Q1: What was the inspiration behind this startup? (Ammar) 

At the time of our graduation, we (I and Shahrukh) imagined a world where a student from Khuzdar, Baluchistan and a student from DHA Lahore, had the same opportunities to get quality education - A world where distance doesn't translate to a drop in the quality of Education. A world, where students have control of their learning methods, and they are evolving to become self-learners. Alhamdulillah, in our 6-year journey, we have made this dream come true.

If we look at the data, Pakistan stands 2nd last in the list of Education index of the world. Half of the student population gets dropped at the secondary level and half again at the inter level. If we want to change the future of our generation and our people, we must work and improve our education system. These statistics are sufficient to motivate any sensible citizen to gear up and start working to improve it. I believe there are only 3 solutions to the worlds' problems: Education, Education and Education.

Q2: Why did you choose education as a profession, especially in Pakistan... (Shahrukh)

The answer lies in data and the motivation of working in the education sector. If we look at the population of Pakistan, we are one of the youngest nations in the world with more than 100 million people below the age of 25. Most of them are students and learners. Given all the challenges we face as a nation, most of them can be solved by improving education. Good education creates a critical mind, and that critical mind generates employment opportunities and helps the nation grow and excel. Similarly, given the plight of the education system of Pakistan, it becomes a lucrative opportunity for the entrepreneurs to solve it.

Q3: What do you value more, education or knowledge? (Ammar)

I believe education is a formal process of enlightenment while knowledge is enlightenment gathered through experience and observations. I usually see them helping each other in order. You educate someone through formal means to help them amplify their observation which results in better experiences and hence it gets translated into knowledge. If I had to pick one, I'd consider knowledge more valuable than education. The destination is always more valuable than the journey. One can use any medium of education to reach the right level of knowledge.

Q4: Education on digital forum, how do you see the future of it in Pakistan? (Shahrukh)

Given the fourth revolution, everything is slowly heading towards digitalization. Being digital is not good to have anymore, in fact, I believe it is a must-have now. Especially after this pandemic, the digital world has been accelerated by a very decent factor and that is the reason we are looking at a completely new way of life where people are working from homes, currencies are not being controlled or governed by a central body, and intellectual properties and rights are part of the digital domain now.

Having said that, I see a very bright future of digital education in Pakistan, because only ed-tech has the right recipe to bring down the cost and increase the quality of education simultaneously. We cannot rely on a 200-year-old education system anymore where a single human being (teacher) is responsible to understand and guide 100s of students sitting in front of him. Machine learning and Artificial Intelligence backed by big data will help us in identifying the weaknesses of students and help them learn better. Physical education (and systems) will always be there, and they'll be complemented by the digital platforms.

Q5: What were some of the primary challenges that you faced?  (Ammar)

Initially convincing people on something which was not done in Pakistan before. A video-lecture model, where people would pay to learn. It was hard to convince them to pay to learn and seek, as video-lectures were already present on YouTube or other mediums. People were hesitant in paying for a video lecture. As soon as we started generating quality education, it was the people who were running after us. The second challenge that we faced was the payment gateways, as JazzCash or EasyPaisa were not really active during those days, and online payment was not really a thing back then. We solved this challenge with an innovative yet old solution and reintroduced scratch cards. Third challenge is, lack of talent, or tech-resources. We still face this challenge. But we shall overcome this soon.

Q6: Youth of Pakistan are mostly just hesitant, how to break this pattern? (Shahrukh)

I believe, in order to break the pattern of hesitancy, you need to have some inspiration. And if you are to achieve something in life, then you need to inspire, you must get inspired. It comes from the place where you learn, and you follow their example, for instance, the example of the Prophet (PBUH). He inspired many people through his wisdom and knowledge, and there are countless local examples as well. A simple teacher who wanted to help his students, created a multibillion-dollar business out of it.

Q7: How did you deal with demotivational factors? (Ammar)

I believe here comes the role of a co-founder. One of the reasons that most entrepreneurial ventures and businesses are co-founded and comprise teams. It’s impossible for a person to do everything single-handedly. That is one reason that helped since the initial days, if one of us is down, and struggling, the other person will cheer him up. I believe this is the formula which is universal, irrespective of business, or life in general, if you get a right partner, then it becomes easier for you.

Q8: Where do you see Nearpeer in ten years from now? (Ammar)

We want to see Nearpeer as a household brand in the next ten years. Students from Pakistan, and Middle East studying from this portal and taking control of their learning by becoming self-learners. Once they get a know-how of Nearpeer, they can learn more from it. Secondly, we see Nearpeer as an idea, back in 2016 when we first started off, we had an idea to initiate this start-up so that more people could follow. Ten years from now, we are hopeful to see a lot more EdTech startups that bring more competition and more quality education. And on the brighter side, it will surely help the students. Business will compete in prices, and quality education. At the end of the day, students will make the most out of it.  

Q9: Lastly, a message to the youth. (Shahrukh)

Always believe in yourself, always think big, always channelize these positive energies, and see the brighter side of things. These three things are very essential. There is a couplet by Allama Iqbal that goes:

Gulzar e hast o bood na begana vaar dekh

Hai ye dekhnay ki cheez, tu isay baar baar dekh

Always be curious. Without curiosity, you cannot accomplish certain things. The difference between man and animals is that we have the intellectual capacity to be curious, and to ask questions. Allah helps the mind that is curious. And because of that it helps humanity overall.