Customers will get unrestricted online access to the whole course material till October 2024. A complete refund will be given by Amazon Academy to anyone enrolled in the current academic cohort.
Digital Desk: Amazon announced on Thursday that it will shut down its edtech services in India as of August 2023 and return all money to students registered in the current academic batch.
To assist students studying for the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) for engineering institutes, the e-commerce giant founded Amazon Academy in January 2022. The move allowed it to compete with leading edtech firms like Byju's, Unacademy, Vedantu, and traditional educational institutions, as well as access the $180 billion online education market in the nation.
An Amazon spokeswoman said, "Following an evaluation, we have decided to stop Amazon Academy. To take care of present consumers, we are phase-closing this programme."
The current cohort would complete its test preparation module during the phased closure of Amazon Academy.
According to the sources, the Amazon staff members were informed of the plan to stop using the edtech platform in October of this year. On the project, there were about 25 workers, and the company has now taken on all of them. According to the reports, the platform was providing its lessons to roughly 150 pupils.
Customers will receive unlimited access to the whole course curriculum online until October 2024. Additionally, anyone registered in the current academic batch will receive a full refund from Amazon Academy.
The Amazon representative said, "At Amazon, we think big, experiment, and invest in innovative ideas to delight customers. We also constantly analyse how well our products and services are doing in terms of providing value to customers, and we adapt as necessary as a result."
The Academy aims to provide high-quality, inexpensive education to all, beginning with students studying for the engineering entrance examination, according to Amol Gurwara, who was director of education at Amazon India, who stated this last year. Gurwara has stated, "Our objective is to empower instructors and content partners to reach millions of students while also assisting students in achieving their results." At Amazon, Kindle, Gurwara is still serving in the capacity of Country Manager.
As part of the annual operating planning review process, Amazon is terminating its edtech service and making layoffs. The corporation did not, however, provide a breakdown of the employment that would be eliminated in India. The sources claim that efforts would be made to include as many as feasible in the various commercial divisions of the organisation. According to the sources, only those for whom it is impossible to find a good fit will be asked to go.
In a note to staff last week, chief executive officer Andy Jassy announced that Amazon will begin cutting jobs globally in early 2023.
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