Amazon Academy to Shut Down Less Than Two Years After Launch as Edtech Firms Face Post-Pandemic Challenges

Amazon said on Thursday it would shut down its online learning platform for high-school students in India less than two years of its launch, without citing a reason. The Amazon Academy platform, launched early last year amid a boom in virtual learning during the COVID-19 pandemic, offered coaching for competitive exams including Joint Entrance Examination (JEE), which allows entry into top engineering colleges across India.

The e-commerce giant announced the launch of Amazon Academy last year, revealing that learning material and exam content available through Amazon Academy was developed by expert faculty from across the country. The content resources available through the platform were designed to help students prepare for BITSAT, VITEEE, SRMJEEE, and MET exams — in addition to Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) engineering exams.

The platform also offered specially crafted mock tests with over 15,000 handpicked questions, along with hints, from industry experts. It also hosted live All India Mock Tests (AIMT) at scheduled intervals. Further, students could also schedule lessons or access daily practice problems.

Amazon Academy also allowed users to track their progress over time and identify strong as well as weak areas, to help engineering students improve their results. It also provided insights on the overall test-taking strategy.

Based on an assessment, the ecommerce giant said in a statement that it had made the decision to discontinue Amazon Academy "in a phased manner to take care of current customers".

The winding down comes at a time when multiple edtech firms are reeling under the pressure of schools and coaching centres reopening across India after COVID-19-induced lockdowns.

Last month, industry leader Byju's had said it would lay off 2,500 employees as it pushes to turn profitable.

Other players Unacademy, Toppr, WhiteHat Jr, and Vedantu had also announced layoffs earlier this year, as per local media reports.

© Thomson Reuters 2022