The Higher Education Review

Students who talk less or feel discomfort in asking questions in a class of many get left out of understanding the true concepts. Most of the time, their doubts remain unresolved. Since they do not clarify doubts, they fail to achieve their true academic potential. In order to give solutions to the learning problems that such students face, some online portals have intervened in the education market. Intervention made by portals like Catalyze Center for Learning (Catalyze) that has been using online mediums to deliver customized and personalized classes is remarkable. This portal is the ‘brainchild’ of Dr. Rajashree Krishnaswamy, who started CCL with an objective of imparting bespoke education, catering to the unique learning needs of students that face difficulty in classroom learning. Catalyze Center for Learning (Catalyze) offers bespoke programs to students all over the world through live interactive online classes.

Catalyze’s Momentum Gain
It started in 2008 when Dr. Rajashree got to interact with many students while pursuing her Ph.D. She recognized the problems, foreseeing the huge potential of online learning. “You know, students appear privately in NIOS (The National Institute of Open Schooling) or Cambridge for alternate careers. Students who like football, music or anything else, but cannot manage time, are given the flexibility and the opportunities at Catalyze. “We have a nationally ranked squash player and two kids who are playing at the league in Spain taking Bespoke programs. Overall, learning is flexible in CCL,” says Dr. Rajashree Krishnaswamy, Founder and CEO Catalyze.

Online learning is flourishing at the moment, where Catalyze’s growth has been rising at an exponential rate. Catalyze became a PVT LTD company in 2016 and since then it is delivering Online bespoke interactive programs in several categories.

The first category is school and under this Catalyze caters to Indian as well as international curricula. The Indian curriculum comprises of CBSE, ICSE/ISC and NIOS. “We have students opting for the Indian curriculum from India, UAE and Singapore” says Dr. Rajashree.

In the case of international curricula, Catalyze has students opting for Bespoke Interactive programs with faculty from the USA, Canada, UK, Europe and South East Asia, Australia and NZ. Cambridge IGCSE, AS & A level, as well as IB programs, are popular in the above-mentioned countries. In addition, Catalyze has studied in depth the country-specific Boards for Countries like USA, Canada Australia and NZ. “There is a specialized academic team that works on the curricula. This board also intervenes in training the teachers – like how to align with the curriculum from time to time, what are the assessment parameters, what examiners look for when a student is presenting answers. So, the whole academic department, which is kind of like an R&D, takes care of all the requirements, maintains the indexes of the school board,” says Dr. Rajashree.

"Walking aggressively with plans to enhance the academic experience, Catalyze is constantly striving to improvise the Bespoke Experience"

Catalyze is also into other programs like Test Prep (Competitive exams). The range of courses offered range from SAT, IIT, NEET, IELTS and TOEFL etc. Catalyze offers specific topics or doubt clearing sessions through live interactive webinars as well which serve as tools for quick clarification of concepts. In addition to the one on one model, classes are also conducted in small groups of five to ten students for personalized learning. This initiative makes learning very much interactive.

In recent times, Catalyze has forayed into IT courses for teaching IT languages to college/school going students who want to make careers in this field. These courses are offered at basic and advanced levels for the IT professionals who would like to have a re-skilling and want to upgrade their skills in particular programs or language. In order to make students learn quick problem-solving methods in mathematics and Vedic mathematics, Catalyze’s Vedic

math programs are much sought after and are again offered at different levels. The IT and Vedic Math programs come with a course completion certificate as well.

The success Catalyze has achieved has been possible due to the teaching methodologies adopted by the faculties. Catalyze selects the faculties by a five-step stringent interview process. The administration on-boards the faculties based on their qualifications, passion for teaching and the ability to expand their thoughts into different areas of learning. “We like to hire experienced faculty – 50 percent of the faculties have over 20 years of experience, 20 percent have 10 years of experience and the reset have over five years of experience,” states Dr. Rajashree.

Catalyze’s students have got admission to prestigious universities like Cornell, Nottingham, Belarus and other high ranked universities in the world. The learning portal has clientele starting from North America to New Zealand. As a consequence of the efforts put in forth, Catalyze has crossed 100,000 hours of the tutorial with 8500 students’ presence.

Walking aggressively with plans to enhance academic experience, Catalyze is ensuring the latest changes are incorporated into the curriculum. It is on the verge of entering into a very sophisticated LMS (Learning Management System), where students can sign up for a course and continue to learn throughout the year. “If you ask what makes Catalyze different from others? I would say it is the ‘Bespoke Learning approach,” concludes Dr. Rajashree.

Dr. Rajashree Krishnaswamy,
Founder and CEO
Dr. Rajashree and Mr. Sanjay Chandrashekhar started Catalyze in 2008. Dr. Rajashree is a scientist and worked in Premier biotech companies like Biocon and Kemin Industries, where she later headed a strategic Business unit. Being a teacher at heart, she decided to launch Catalyze as she saw the problems that students faced. She has been the recipient of The Rising Digital star award in 2015, and the League of Iconic Entrepreneur award conferred by the Women Economic Forum in 2016. She is the India Chairperson for online learning at ALL ladies League and the Women Economic Forum.