Elevating The Region’s Online Education Scene

Over the past year the demand for digital learning has rapidly increased due to the pandemic crisis, shedding light on the growing dynamism in the educational sector.

So, it was only natural for Forbes Middle East to select Noor Boodai, founder and CEO of Darisni, as one of its “30 under 30” 2021 list. The yearly list features the region’s most promising young talent under the age of 30.

Darisni is the region's first and largest online platform that provides instant and affordable tutoring services and educational content, mapped to the curricula of Arabic schools.The interactive, multi-subject platform enables students to learn at a self-paced level, giving them the opportunity to access and understand information in their own manner.

3oud.com sat down with Darisni founder and CEO, Noor Boodai, to discuss how the idea of Darisni came up, further expansion plans and how, together with her team, she is pushing for quality education for the masses. 

Let’s jump in with your story. What first got you into entrepreneurship and why did you decide to start your own company, Dars?

I always loved the excitement that comes with being an entrepreneur, however what truly has been a driver in my journey is my passion for Education.

I have always been interested in making education more accessible for both people imparting it and seeking it. I believe that anyone who wants to learn, should be able to do so.

The seeding of the idea happened, when I was at university and needed help with thermodynamics.

My tutor was only available at specific times, which meant that a lesson would sometimes need to be put until the next class.

This seemed to be a common problem with most students, and I always wondered how amazing it would be to have on-demand tutoring that was accessible 24/7. Where the learning didn’t need to stop. This is how our first platform Darisni was born.

For the next few projects like Bounce and Edmate, we studied the market and found gaps. Instead of launching products in popular categories, we sought to bridge these gaps, not only it did make more business sense, but it was also beneficial for the EdTech sector, where there was a whole plethora of platforms that complemented what was already there, accelerating the world’s transition to digital learning.

Your company has helped over 500,000 students across more than 50 countries, how have your objectives and goals changed since the launch of the company?

We have always focused at identifying market gaps and then filling them. Our products are not competing with existing products, instead we simplify and complement what is already there.

Our platforms act as both standalone products, or you can combine them with what you already have, the goal has been to optimize resources and increase productivity and that will never change.

What has evolved is the audiences we are catering to; we are constantly diversifying. When we started, we launched Darisni (targeted at students), which is a B2C product, however since then we have switched gears and focused on B2B products like Bounce (Pre-K) and Edmate (K-12).

The idea is still the same, we just think teachers, parents and schools play a much more crucial role in taking education online than we realize.

They need to understand, adapt and propagate this shift, so that the kids get onboard. Education does not occur in silos, which is why we now focus on creating full-fledged learning environments.

It’s literally like bringing the entire school day to the phone – for all stakeholders – students, teachers, parents, admin staff etc.

The edtech sector is currently booming and digital learning solutions have risen due to the COVID pandemic. What differentiates Darisni from other online learning platforms?

Technology is no longer an added feature; it is an integral part of technology and must be used as such.

It is not here to replace traditional education but empower it, so that our children never have to face a situation where their learning can’t continue, or schools don’t have to close down.

We want to make all stakeholders comfortable with the idea of hybrid learning.

The biggest difference between Dars and any other EdTech player is how we perceive our consumer. Most EdTech companies focus on the education element but not so much on the tech part, the platforms has information heavy and yet not engaging.

If we focus on user experience when it comes to food or entertainment apps, why should the same logic not be applied to learning platforms – the audience after all is the same people.

We focus on creating user interface that’s simple – so that people don’t have to learn something new all over again, it’s based on what people are already used to, this way they are more inclined to use a new platform instead of being turned off by it.

We focus on increasing stickiness, so that the students actually sit down and go through an entire lesson or test, instead of looking for excuses to get away. We want to make learning just as enjoyable a process as anything else that is online.

What are the top qualities and skills you are looking for when hiring tutors for Darisni?

When it comes to tutors the most important thing for us is subject knowledge, passion for teaching and the ability to learn themselves.

Tutors who want to join the app need to give a test that will test their subject matter knowledge. Once they pass the subject matter test, we put them through additional trainings for a soft skill training course (some teachers might be very good but struggle with technology, or vice versa.

These courses are to prepare them to be able to teach online). 

Anyone we hire for Dars needs to have a solution mindset. What really excites us as a company is to find new solutions to age old problems, and our staff lives and breathes this ideology.

For us at Dars, while technical knowledge is valued, attitude is everything!

You currently lead a team of 120 employees based out of offices in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, the U.A.E., Jordan, and Egypt, I can only imagine it being very stressful and challenging! How do you do it?

It’s only stressful if its work, if it’s your passion, your work drives you. Having said that, I think getting the right team in place is crucial to be able to strike a balance.

From the very beginning, we have focused on acquiring talent who are experts in their fields when it comes to leadership / management positions.

Not only can they take the lead when it comes to managing work force, they are also able to hone younger talent to grow and prosper as the company grows.

As a team we have always been a family unit, every time someone is over pressured, another member steps in to help, this is a practice that runs common through the company from CEO to intern.  

Another thing that really helps is having clarity. At any given point, everyone on the team is clear on the end goal – the North Star.

They know where we are headed, and what we need to do to get there. And since we have teams from different working from different parts of the world, we huddle every two weeks to talk about progress, what comes next, and where adjustments needs to be made.

This practice helps in creating an empowered team, where everyone is their own manager.

How did you feel when when schools went under lockdown in March of 2020?

The realization that if there was ever a time for EdTech to shine it was during the lockdown dawned on me pretty quickly.

While everyone went into panic mode, we put our heads together to reassess our priorities.

The first priority was to ensure that education didn’t stop.

To this end we offered up our entire content library to the public sector for free. If someone needed an online learning module, we made sure they could access it.

We also worked with the Ministry of Education in Egypt to support them with alternative assessments for their students because exams were being cancelled, in the same breath we worked with the students, so they could efficiently answer these new assignments.

Another major responsibility we had was to our own employees, we needed to ensure business continuity, so that we are not forced to cut down salaries or let people go.

To this end, we doubled down on the development front. Anything that was in the pipeline down the road, became current.

This also gave us room to be market ready, as soon as things opened up. Which was great, because we came out of the pandemic with two new products, Bounce, which a nursery management system, and Edmate, which is meant for the K-12 sector.

COVID-19 acted as a catalyst for the EdTech sector on the whole. The progress that we as an industry thought would take another 5-10 years, was made in months, especially in terms of people’s transition to online learning.

After the pandemic I am hopeful that people will no longer see EdTech as an ancillary industry, but as a front runners when it comes to new age learning.

What is your opinion on the environment for creating a tech company in Kuwait?

Kuwait has been our testing market. It is fairly smaller and the consumers largely kinder than the rest. Which means it gave us the time to perfect our product, before we launch it internationally.

In terms of the future of any tech company, this sector tends to be borderless, especially when it comes to SaaS solutions.

When Kuwait shut down, we immediately activated teams in KSA and Egypt, to ensure business continuity. What I think would really help is a more conducive cross border cooperation in the region, which reduced the red tape startups might have to navigate.

Definitely more public-private partnerships in the sector would also benefit the industry, as well as increase interest from investors.

What exciting things can we expect from Dars in the next 12 months?

For the next 12 months, our focus is going to be on marketing Bounce. It’s a unique platform that is targeted towards empowering Pre-K and nurseries to optimize their man power, time and resources.

Built to connect pre-school administration, teachers, parents, and their extended circle, through a single accessible platform, Bounce is all set to collaborize early childhood learning.

We have already had considerable success in KSA and Egypt, while Kuwait is starting to pick up as nurseries finally reopen.

Over the next 6 months or so, we will also be focusing on UAE and Qatar, before moving on to international markets.

Last, but not least, how do you see the future of education technology?

The EdTech scene has been growing steadily over the last two decades, however COVID-19 has extrapolated this pace, resulting in development that would possibly take years to happen in a matter of months.

My hope is that now that we have seen the importance of agile learning systems, we will continue to invest in these solutions, instead of just going back to our old ways, once the situation is resolved.

I foresee more independence for both tutors and students, as they start to connect online, as well as more lean structures in schools as they begin to take things online, be it teaching, management or something as simple as paper work.

I believe we will most definitely move from traditional one-size-fits-all, rigid paper-based learning to hybrid learning where all educational stakeholders – students, teachers, admin, school and parents work together to create cohesive learning environment both IRL and online.