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Наталя ХандусенкоHot News
22 May 2026, 14:47
2026-05-22
EdEra launches free math app "BigMath." Targeting kids who grew up with constant dopamine from screens
On May 27, 2026, the Ukrainian online education studio EdEra launches the BigMath pilot. This is a free interactive mathematics platform aimed at students, their parents, and teachers. The key objective of the initiative is to reduce the gap in the knowledge level of schoolchildren, as well as help teachers make lessons more quality. The project has already received support from the Tokarev Foundation, Work.ua, and Vchasno.
On May 27, 2026, the Ukrainian online education studio EdEra launches the BigMath pilot. This is a free interactive mathematics platform aimed at students, their parents, and teachers. The key objective of the initiative is to reduce the gap in the knowledge level of schoolchildren, as well as help teachers make lessons more quality. The project has already received support from the Tokarev Foundation, Work.ua, and Vchasno.
An old idea to update the school curriculum
EdEra founder and CEO Ilya Filipov conceived of completely reformatting school subjects, especially mathematics and computer science, at the very beginning of the creation of the online educational studio. He spoke about this in an interview with Vector.
The first big step took place in 2023, when the team was invited to the all-Ukrainian project "Updated Informatics - IT Studios", which laid the foundation for the reform of IT education.
At the same time, all these years, the head of the studio has been actively promoting the reform of mathematics, which he considers an even higher priority: "I rushed to every ministry that existed. To all four. Except for the ministry where Shkarlet was, I simply did not want to contact him. There is no state money for this project at all."
Researching the problem
The creation of the BigMath platform was preceded by a large-scale study of educational losses in Ukraine, which EdEra and the Tokarev Foundation conducted during 2025–2026.
The team analyzed the results of the external assessment (2008–2018), the National Assessment of Mathematics (2022–2024), and the international PISA-2022 report. In addition, the authors conducted a survey of teachers and, together with the savED Foundation, tested students in grades 5, 7, and 10. Special attention was paid to the phenomenon of “mathematical anxiety” — a psychological fear of a subject that blocks the learning process.
It turned out that last year 11.9% of applicants (over 34,000 people) did not pass the NMT threshold in mathematics, not even scoring 5 points out of 32. In practice, almost half of Ukrainian teenagers are 1.5 years behind OECD standards and do not know how to use mathematics in everyday tasks. Experts warn that in the future this will lead to a deficit in critical thinking in the next generation.
In addition, according to Filipov, the Ministry of Education and Science and international donors are currently focused mainly on the material base: security, school repairs, and shelter construction. Curriculum and teaching methods have taken a back seat, but the lack of attention to technical education will be felt in a few years.
Mathematics has the greatest weight in the NMT scores when entering engineering and IT fields. Therefore, students who do not master the basic curriculum in secondary school simply will not be able to compete for budget places in higher education institutions in technological specialties.
BigMat application
The BigMath platform is betting on a generation that grew up with smartphones in their hands and is accustomed to the constant "dopamine" from screens. Instead of going to extremes - taking away gadgets or teaching a subject according to the patterns of 30 years ago, the authors decided to teach children in their familiar digital environment.
The project has already generated considerable interest: over 500 teachers applied to participate in the first wave, of which 60 were selected. Together with their classes, they are already testing the topic of fractions in the application. The second phase of the pilot will start in the fall - the program will be expanded with new topics based on initial feedback.
Cooperation with the Ministry of Education and Science is enshrined in a memorandum, but funding remains entirely private.
The total investment in the project exceeds $300,000. Of this, $96,000 was directed to analytics and MVP creation, and another $210,000 was raised for the upcoming large-scale release.
The main donor is the Tokarev Foundation of Sergey Tokarev (co-founder of Roosh). The roles of the other two pre-commitments were taken on by Work.ua and Vchasno, added Ilya Filipov.
