Amazon to close down its on-line studying platform in India • TechCrunch

Amazon might be shutting down Amazon Academy, a web-based studying platform it launched in India for high-school college students final 12 months, the corporate stated Thursday.

The retailer says it should wind down the edtech service within the nation in a phased method beginning August 2023. Those that signed up for the present tutorial batch will obtain a full refund, it stated.

Amazon formally launched Academy, beforehand known as JEE Prepared, early final 12 months, however had been testing the platform since mid-2019. Academy sought to assist college students put together for entry into the nation’s prestigious engineering schools.

The service supplied curated studying materials, reside lectures, mock exams and complete assessments to assist college students study and observe math, physics and chemistry and put together for the Joint Entrance Examinations (JEE), a government-backed engineering entrance evaluation carried out in India for admission to varied engineering schools within the nation.

The great providing from the agency had prompted some to imagine that Amazon may be making a serious foray into the training market and should pose risk to upstarts corresponding to Byju’s, Unacademy and Vedantu.

Greater than 260 million youngsters go to high school in India and far of the inhabitants sees training as a key to financial progress and a greater life. Fb additionally invested in Unacademy, a Bangalore-based startup that provides on-line studying lessons. Google, which invested in Indian edtech startup Cuemath, additionally partnered with CBSE to coach greater than 1 million academics in India and supply a spread of free instruments corresponding to G Suite for Training, Google Classroom and YouTube to assist digitize the training expertise within the nation.

“At Amazon, we expect massive, experiment, and put money into new concepts to please clients. We additionally regularly consider the progress and potential of our services to ship buyer worth, and we frequently make changes based mostly on these assessments,” an Amazon spokesperson advised TechCrunch.

“Following an evaluation we’ve made the choice to discontinue Amazon Academy. We’re winding down this program in a phased method to deal with present clients.”

The corporate didn’t share why it’s winding down Academy, however ET Prime (paywalled), which first reported the event, stated the transfer was a part of the its ongoing cost-cutting measures.

Amazon is planning to chop about 10,000 jobs, in response to media stories, and commenced eliminating roles in some divisions together with units and providers earlier this month. Amazon additionally shut down groups that make AWS tutorials and different on-line programs, Enterprise Insider reported.

In a memo, which Amazon has since made public, chief government Andy Jassy stated extra layoffs will come subsequent 12 months.