First of all, what is JINC? JINC is an organisation that believes that every child has potential – also the hundreds of thousands of Dutch children who grow up in a disadvantaged socio-economic environment. That is why JINC strives for a society in which your background does not determine your future. To achieve this, they help children aged 8-16 get a better start in the labour market. The JINC program teaches them how to apply for jobs, introduces them to different professions and helps them discover which work suits their capabilities and talents. During the show, founder and director Daniël Roos explained that JINC aims to empower talent in three different ways: by scale, effectiveness, and long term impact. JINC should be fun, but it should also work and succeed in its mission to provide better opportunities for young people in the labour market. And JINC is definitely succeeding: they keep growing and have future plans to be active abroad as well.
Squla has been a partner of JINC since 2017, and our colleagues have actively been participating in various projects throughout this time. This includes internships that have been organized at the office, job application trainings, career coaching from our colleagues, and language trips. Not only is it a great opportunity for children, it’s also amazing for us to see how much we can learn from them and enjoy their fresh perspectives. More importantly, they learn from each other, work together and form meaningful bonds.
Since JINC is all about children but the nominees were adults, of course some young spirit was very much needed in the show and the judging team 😉. The show kicked off with a spectacular dance performance by ‘Solid Ground movement’, a dance team from Amsterdam Noord. Then, the following award categories were introduced: ‘Newcomer of the Year’, ‘Volunteer of the Year’, ‘Company of the Year’, ‘Internship of the Year’ and ‘School of the Year’. Together with companies Bearing Point, Accenture, De Schepper Campagnes and Cushman & Wakefield, Squla was nominated for the ‘Company of the Year’ category. Each nominated party was allowed on stage, and after a short introduction it was up to the 5-member jury of primary school Samenspel to make a choice. After a long 5 minutes the final verdict was there: 3 out of 5 votes went to Squla! 🎉
We are very proud and grateful for this beautiful award and look forward to many more years of collaboration with JINC!
The boss of WRTS for one day
Today Chantal experiences what it is like to take over WRTS for one day. She thinks about how we can make WRTS even better. Tijntje: “WRTS is a platform for high school students to practice and get explanations for school subjects for which they have a test soon. Who better to know the requirements for a platform like that than someone that age? Chantal is also going to take her final exams next year and that is perfect for us. Because just like Chantal, we will also be taking our final exams next year. And we could really use some help with that.”
Equal opportunities for everyone
With Boss of Tomorrow, WRTS and JINC want to combat inequality of opportunity. In the Netherlands, hundreds of thousands of children grow up in an environment with a lot of socio-economic disadvantage. All these children have dreams and talents, but their zip code and social environment are often obstacles on their road to success. Those who grow up in an environment with few role models or opportunities unfortunately have fewer prospects for career success than peers from “wealthier” neighborhoods. Regardless of how smart or talented the children are.
Tijntje says: “In the Netherlands we can all get a good education. And that is necessary. Because we need all the talent there is to make our country ready for the future. We are training the future leaders now. And we as a company help with that with our platforms, but also inspire all students who want to work with the different jobs they could do in the future. We do this by working a lot with JINC through lightning internships, career coaching and Boss of Tomorrow. Every child has talent, and with every talent comes a suitable career. Some children do not know the different options for further learning. By opening up our company to these children, we want to inspire them to find their own talents and also see what they can do with them in the future.”
- Squla joins worldwide network organizations that want to make a social impact.
- The certification was preceded by an extensive “B Impact Assessment” of several months.
- Certificate “B Corporation” recognition mission to provide all children with equal opportunities for quality education.
“B Corporations” are organizations that succeed in creating a good balance between “purpose” and “profit”. They are organizations that not only strive for profitability, but also take people, the environment and society as a starting point in their activities. Although more and more companies and organizations are aware of the need for this and want to be certified by B Corp, obtaining the certificate is certainly not easy. The “B Corporation” certificate is only awarded if at least 80 of the 200 points have been obtained in the “B Impact Assessment”: a way to measure the sustainable and social impact of an organization. In addition to their social mission, the activities and culture of organizations are examined on the basis of dozens of (social) factors, such as the business model, processes that facilitate social ways of thinking and the way in which sustainability is embedded in work processes.
Caroline Henneman, the Head of Marketing & Growth at Squla, guided this assessment from start to finish. “We are very proud to receive this certificate, which is a special milestone for Squla. Since our foundation, it has been our mission to help every child progress through play and this certification is a crown on our work. Moreover, obtaining a B Corp certificate is no easy task. It is preceded by an extensive process that takes several months. During this certification, our organization was screened at all levels. Squla passed this assessment with flying colors and we did not have to make any structural adjustments to qualify.”
A positive impact on society
Serge Bueters, the CEO of Squla, considers it honourable that Squla can call itself a ‘B Corp’ and is part of a select group of organizations that want to make a positive impact on society and that themes such as social responsibility, transparency and sustainability are of paramount importance. are the standard. “I consider it a very nice recognition of our mission. Squla wants to enable all children – regardless of their parents’ financial resources – to grow and use their talents. That is a mission to which we have been faithful for ten years. For many years, Squla has served as a supplement to education and a nice extra support in teaching to stimulate, challenge and grow students’ self-confidence at their own level and pace. In the existing education system – with its ever-expanding classes and the growing teacher shortage – this is no superfluous luxury. This is how we give substance to our social responsibility and we are extremely proud that Squla can call itself a “B Corporation”.
Equal opportunities for a good education for all children
Squla can be used as a low-threshold and accessible tool that teachers can use to give children an extra helping hand, not only at school, but also at home. For example, “Squla in de Klas” is free every day of the week during school hours. After school, the platform is available at home for paying subscribers. Here Squla tries to keep the threshold as low as possible for families who are less fortunate and works together with organizations such as Stichting Leergeld and the Het Jeugdeducatiefonds. In the past period, Squla has shown in various ways that it takes its social responsibility seriously. When the schools had to close their doors this spring due to corona, this was the reason to open ‘Squla in de Klas’ to all children in the Netherlands, also at home. By making the platform free for all primary school students, Squla has met a great need. Every day, more than 300,000 children logged into the platform from home and answered more than 80 million questions about the teaching material they used to practice.
About B Corp
The B Corp movement is an initiative of the B Lab founded in 2006. This American non-profit organization is active worldwide in the development, award and verification of the B Corp certification. B Lab is now active in 70 countries and in the Netherlands for the past five years. There are currently 3,600 “B Corps” worldwide, of which about 800 in Europe and over 100 in the Netherlands. The B Corp status shows that the company does not only successfully focus on commercial, but also on social and sustainable purposes, thereby contributing to a better world. To achieve this status, companies go through a strict audit. This involves an evaluation of the company’s social, ecological and societal performance and looking at transparency and accountability. Companies that achieve at least 80 out of 200 points in this evaluation may call themselves a B Corp. After that, they must re-certify every three years to maintain their B Corp status.
About Squla
Squla is the largest provider of supplementary education in the Netherlands. More than 180,000 primary students practice and play Squla from home and more than 600,000 primary students through their primary school. Squla is an online exercise program for primary school students in grades 1 to 8. With fun quizzes and games they practice with the curriculum of school. Squla is a supplement, intended to support teaching at school and also at home, to stimulate students at their own level and at their own pace. Squla believes this should be available to every child. That is why teachers can use Squla in de Klas for free. Squla was developed by educational experts and game developers. This makes the quizzes not only fun, but also completely in line with the educational goals set by the government. Squla is part of Futurewhiz, which is active in Poland as well as in the Netherlands. Futurewhiz has 70 employees and is located in Amsterdam. In addition to Squla, Futurewhiz also owns WRTS, an online learning platform for high school students to learn words and concepts more easily and quickly, and scoyo, the German equivalent of Squla.
Note to the editor (not for publication)
For more information, please contact Caroline Henneman from Squla; phone: 0646847053; e-mail: caroline@squla.com.
Are you curious about our report? Take a look at it here.
- 7 million German students get access to the innovative Squla platform
- A free classroom solution for all German teachers
- Scoyo expands its services for children, parents and teachers
Amsterdam, September 1, 2020 – Edtech company Futurewhiz, parent company of Squla and WRTS, today announced the acquisition of its German counterpart Scoyo. For example, online learning platform Squla gains access to 7 million German primary and lower secondary school students. Retaining its name, Scoyo is adding its local educational content to the innovative Squla platform on mobile / web for home and school. Just like in the Netherlands and Poland, German children, parents and teachers will soon be able to work online with the school material. No announcement has been made about the acquisition price.
Squla is the largest provider of supplementary education in the Netherlands and Poland. In the Netherlands, some 180,000 children play and practice from home and more than 600,000 through their primary school with Squla. The acquisition of Scoyo by Futurewhiz gives the Squla platform a flying start in German education.
Serge Bueters, the CEO of Futurewhiz: “Our goal is to give as many children as possible access to our popular Squla platform to support them in learning. With Squla, each child can do this at their own level and pace and in accordance with the curriculum. This demonstrably improves learning performance. With the acquisition of Scoyo, we will not only be able to do this in the Netherlands and Poland, but soon also in a large market such as Germany. By integrating Squla into Scoyo, we expect to be able to help an extra seven million children.”
Scoyo is one of the top 3 educational platforms in Germany for grades 1 to 7 with quizzes, videos, tests and educational games tailored to the type of school, the school level and the curriculum of schools in the 16 different German states.
Squla adds a number of extra possibilities to the current Scoyo learning environment. For example, the Squla learning platform is much more extensive, Squla consists of an app and a web environment and also provides an overview of learning efficiency for parents and teachers. The latter group will also have its own online environment especially for teachers. Scoyo is, just like Squla in the Netherlands, free to use in the classroom. For home use, parents pay a fixed amount per month for their school-aged children.
“The free use of Scoyo in the classroom is in line with our goal that we want to give every child the opportunity to grow. So also the children who do not have the means at home to pay for a monthly subscription, ”says Bueters. He realizes that the situation in Germany is still different than in the Netherlands, where almost everyone at school and at home has fast internet and sufficient access to the necessary hardware such as PCs or tablets. “Germany is not yet at the level of the Netherlands in that respect. But the corona crisis has also made it clear in Germany that it is important to make the transition to digital education. This, in combination with the growing need for customized education, partly due to full classes and a shortage of teachers, is an important reason that we have now decided to take over Scoyo, ”explains Bueters.
About Futurewhiz and Squla
Squla is part of Futurewhiz, which is active in Poland as well as in the Netherlands. Futurewhiz has 70 employees and is located in Amsterdam. In addition to Squla, Futurewhiz also owns WRTS, an online learning platform for high school students to learn words and concepts more easily and quickly. Squla is the largest provider of supplementary education in the Netherlands. More than 180,000 children practice and play Squla from home and more than 600,000 children through their primary school. Squla offers online practice programs for children in grades 1 to 8. With fun quizzes and games they practice with the curriculum of school. Squla is a supplement, intended to support teaching at school and also at home, to stimulate students at their own level and at their own pace. Squla believes this should be available to every child. That is why teachers can use Squla in de Klas for free. Squla was developed by educational experts and game developers. This makes the quizzes not only fun, but also completely in line with the educational goals set by the government.
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Download the press photo of CEO Serge Bueters here.
