Starter Kit. Idea 331 of 500. Cluster 16
Exam-preparation apps for the A-Level in Sinhala and Tamil with the past papers explained
The mechanism, from the book
177,000 qualify every year and 45,000 get a place. The other 130,000 are a market that nobody has built for, and the polytechnic is not a second choice when it leads to a job.
The first step
Take one A-Level past paper in one subject, write a clear explanation of every answer in Sinhala or Tamil, and share it free through a tuition class as a document. Track how many students ask for the next paper. Then offer a set of 10 papers for a small fee. Paid downloads before any app is built are the proof.
- Who pays first
- An A-Level student without a good tuition class nearby, who will pay a little for past papers explained in their own language.
- What leaves today
- Only 45,000 of the 177,000 who qualify get a place, and students without good teaching in their own language are the first to lose out.
Ask first
- Data Protection Authority. Ask what consent you need to hold students' names and scores.
- Department of the Registrar of Companies. Ask which registration suits selling study material online.
Check before you spend
Whether past papers may be reproduced for sale or only referred to, and that every explanation is checked by a teacher of that subject.
Find out these three numbers
- How many students asked for the next paper after the free one?
- What price will students pay for a set of explained papers?
- What does one explained paper cost you to write?
A comparison from the book
The exam funnel. Chapter One
"Every rupee spent on tuition classes"
Families already pay for tuition; a clear explanation of past papers competes for that same rupee.
The test
Does it keep value that now leaves the island, or build the proof that lets somebody else do so?
From the appendix of Why Not Sri Lanka? by Dr Maheshika Halbeisen. The idea and the mechanism are the book's; this kit was written for the site.