JomBlajar is a leading EduTech company that provides a digital education solution. This includes publishers, institutions, and students. It was created to improve the experience and distribution of academic materials in Higher Education. The platform was designed to help students automate their school workflows, resulting in better student outcomes through lower costs and greater accessibility in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Cambodia.
In this post, let’s get an insight into GCG Asia’s company vision, official updates and latest news in this Q&A with GCG Asia CEO, Karen Lai.
What’s your vision for the company?
CEO of GCG Asia: JomBlajar has over many years proven educational technology results that help educators measure student growth and achievement. My vision for the company is to continue to provide teachers with the data and insights they need to help their students succeed.
No particular educational technology provider has all the answers, either. Thus, industry collaboration and openness are the best ways to deliver educational tools and services.
How do you see your tech solutions evolving in the next five to 10 years?
CEO of GCG Asia: I expect JomBlajar will grow in the next five to ten years. The assessment portfolio is expected to grow over time, especially as we expand globally. With the expansion of our Southeast Asian Language assessment capabilities, we see exciting opportunities in Asia.
We will also continue to work with school districts to implement the newly launched JomBlajar. The solution centralises assessment, planning, instruction, and practice, empowering teachers to guide and monitor student growth.
What role do you play as a CEO of GCG Asia in supporting teachers to teach better and students learn better?
CEO of GCG Asia: JomBlajar provides teachers with student educational insights. These learning analytics help teachers know how to best help students reach their full potential.
As CEO of GCG Asia, we not only help students learn better, but we also help teachers see where students are now and where they need to be in the future. This personalised learning solution identifies the best resources for each student.
What’s your leadership philosophy?
CEO of GCG Asia: My leadership philosophy as the CEO of GCG Asia and Investor for this Edutech company is based on the idea that high-performing organisations are the result of strong cultures. What has become abundantly clear to me in recent months, and even prior to joining Edutech company, is that the organisation has a strong culture.
What do you believe as CEO of GCG Asia is the state of education in Asia these days?
CEO of GCG Asia: Educators, in my opinion, have made remarkable strides in recent decades. We are in an era when the emphasis of assessments is on collecting results and data at that point to student mastery rather than testing solely for proficiency.
This pervasiveness of data can lead to exceptional student outcomes, and it’s exciting to see where it can go as the CEO of GCG Asia.
We are in an era when the emphasis of assessments is on collecting data and results that lead to student mastery rather than testing solely for learning. For many years, education technology firms operated in silos. Today, however, we are seeing vendors collaborate to assist educators in improving student outcomes.
These open, flexible environments provide teachers with the insights they need to offer a personalised learning experience for every student, bringing assessment, instruction, and analytics together to drive student growth.
What is technology’s role in education? Why?
CEO of GCG Asia: At JomBlajar, we believe that the best approach to educational technology is one that complements rather than replaces teachers.
We strive to provide teachers with the most time-efficient and effective assessment possible to drive classroom instruction and free up time for them to focus on what they do best—creating energising learning experiences in the classroom.
Teachers bear the extraordinary responsibility of developing and shaping young minds and preparing students for future success. Giving teachers access to data-driven results aids them in this endeavour.
These data insights can serve as a road map for differentiated instruction, assisting teachers in making quick decisions on strategies that increase learning, close gaps, and ultimately lead to student mastery.
Why did you invest in this company?
CEO of GCG Asia: I speak from experience as a struggling student! I, like many others, had struggled with the all-too-common issue of inconsistency in educational provision. I am from a rural Asian background, and after witnessing the issues caused by the inequity of opportunity firsthand.
Later, while studying at Hong Kong University, I encountered the same issues, albeit differently. Since 1977, the price of university textbooks has increased four times the rate of inflation, forcing students to pay a hefty bill or forgo important materials.
While I saw many innovations in phone software, I didn’t see anything similar in textbooks. Recognising the need for a technical solution, I founded GCG Asia to legit get JomBlajar out there to ensure that content could be provided at a reasonable cost for publishers, institutions, and students.
What advice would you give to other aspiring entrepreneurs?
CEO of GCG Asia: Consider a mission that provides you with a greater purpose in the world – something that your employees, customers, and partners can get involved in. Our own mission, for example, is to ensure that all students have access to the educational materials they require to succeed. I would also advise all aspiring entrepreneurs to network and learn from the unavoidable mistakes on any entrepreneurial journey.
What can we hope to see from JomBlajar in the future?
CEO of GCG Asia: We are in the process of developing something entirely new in Higher Education technology, a solution that will enable faculties to provide educational content to students in a more efficient, accessible, and equitable manner than ever before.
We are doing so by innovating how content is acquired and managed and business models, user experience, and the scope of content covered. We’ve made a strong presence in the Asian market. In five years, I expect JomBlajar to be the go-to solution for higher education institutions worldwide.
Anything else you care to add or emphasise concerning education, technology—or anything else, for that matter?
CEO of GCG Asia: Regardless of how academic standards and practices evolve in the future, educators can be confident that JomBlajar will remain a committed partner, accompanying them every step of the way.
To advance academic excellence, we will continue to invest in technology architectures and infrastructure.