A 16-year-old Zubair came to a simple realization as he walked out of his first international exam. It was the IGCSE (International General Certificate of Secondary Education), a test taken across the world for students studying the British curriculum, where I discovered that there were huge disparities in the quality of educational resources provided. It was a shocking realization. Some students have access to the very best teaching and private tutoring, while others are unable to afford even the most introductory textbooks.
And yet, when we are graded, we are recognized as a single candidate number. How is that fair?
Luckily, I gained a lot of insight and experience from the teachers and resources around me, and to capture it all, I decided to condense the very best information into a set of concise, high-quality revision resources. And with the realization of education inequality around me, I did what I could do at the time—set up a free blog, post my resources, and let it grow. That was the birth of ZNotes, and in many ways, its story could have ended right there. But the tale continues because of one crucial factor—the power of community.
Through word of mouth, ZNotes were being discovered by students all over the world. Moreover, things started to change when I began to receive emails from passionate students asking how they could help. The idea of learning resources produced for students by students resonated with them.
Today, six years later and with hundreds of contributors and volunteers globally, ZNotes has had over 20 million views and reached over 3 million students, teachers, and educators from every country on this planet! What started as a blog sharing revision notes is now a complete learning platform offering live classes, podcasts, newsletters, and, most importantly, a community space to learn together, all created for students, by students. The ZNotes platform is empowering participating students to be global changemakers.
If there is one thing that ZNotes has proven, it is that the power of community is truly phenomenal, and to harness that power, we must empower students and allow them to lead their educational journey. The more this becomes a reality, the closer my dream will be to fruition. And so I continue to dream of a world where everyone, everywhere, will have access to the very best quality education.
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