EDGE Campus launches Qurio, plans to disrupt education

EDGE Campus, the Stellenbosch-based education software startup, has just announced the launch of Qurio— a free mobile and web product designed to help simplify assessment processes for teachers across the African continent. The product goes live at the 2013 African Education Week.

As important as assessment has been in helping educators to better understand how and when to intervene, the process is too often “tedious” and “proves to be a logistical and practical nightmare.” According to the startup’s research, educators in the Western Cape are spending between 25% and 50% of their time assessing learners in one form or another. Much of the time is lost to activities that can be automated if the right technology is used.

As the group points out, “neither the educators, nor the schools, are willing to put time or money into the necessary training and as a result the product either ends up never being used or being used inefficiently.” Most of the time, educators as well as students don’t have access to computers or smartphone technology.

The three-year old ed-tech startup aims to address these issues by developing a solution to one of the greater dilemmas in the current education system in South Africa: accessibility.

The website can be accessed via different devices. For example, the mobile social network Mxit or simply the Qurio mobile website.

Data charges are kept very low to stay bandwidth-friendly and being web-based means that there’s no need for downloading any proprietary software. This also keeps IT maintenance to a minimum.

Qurio states that it’s not meant to replace traditional forms of assessment but rather act as a complimentary product to current methods, which are often ink and paper based.

EDGE Campus is looking to play their part in turning the South African education system around. Qurio goes live at the 2013 African Education week. It will be free for all teachers and schools for 2013.