UCC announces partnership with Bangladeshi EdTech Shikho to make university test preparation available online

Bangladeshi EdTech startup Shikho and University Coaching Centre (UCC), one of the largest, oldest and most renowned competitive university test preparation institutions in the country has announced a ground-breaking collaboration.

This partnership will democratise access to UCC's best-in-class university entrance exam preparation programmes by digitising the curriculum and making the classes available online to students nationwide, reads a press release. 

"UCC powered by Shikho" will combine UCC's 37 years of deep domain expertise in university test preparation curriculum and pedagogy along with Shikho's cutting-edge digital technology. Students with smartphones or laptops will now be able to prepare for highly competitive entrance exams without the need to travel to far away cities and be able to attend from the comfort and convenience of their homes.

Announcing the partnership, UCC Group's Founder and Chairman, Dr MA Halim Patwari said, "I am very excited to launch a completely new paradigm in university test preparation in our country by creating online access to our flagship programmes, leveraging Shikho's digital expertise and world-class learning technology".

Shikho was founded in 2019 and has been building a hyper-localized digital learning ecosystem with a mission to revolutionize learning in Bangladesh. The startup is focused on democratising access to high-quality education for learners across the country. They have raised $5.6m of funding since their inception –– from international venture investors from Silicon Valley and Singapore, which is also the highest amount for any EdTech in the country.

Shikho's Learning App has already passed 600,000 downloads on the Google Play Store in only 20 months and before the partnership with UCC, the company's core focus was on animated and live academic courses for SSC and HSC students alongside providing professional and up-skilling courses. The company has also recently signed popular actor and father, Chanchal Chowdhury for their "Shikhbo Jitbo" brand campaign. 

"It is a great honor and privilege to work alongside such an esteemed institution and brand as UCC. Shikho is absolutely thrilled to have the opportunity to democratize access to the very high-quality programmes that UCC offers and looks forward to building a long-standing partnership for the future", said Shahir Chowdhury, co founder and CEO of Shikho.