Teaching with “chalk and talk” has become passé in the rapidly digitalizing world of today, and the education sector is not the last one to hop onto the bandwagon. With the change in the tide, schools are slowly moving out of the conventional methods of education, and adopting digital teaching solutions to engage with the Gen-Z students through iPads and Smartclasses.
Indian education sector’s estimated worth stands at about $88.5 billion, while the private coaching sector alone stands at about $23.7 billion. According to the apex chamber of commerce ASSOCHAM, private coaching is likely to touch $40 billion in the coming years. With nearly half the population of India below the age of 25 years and increasing influence of Internet services and smartphones in this demographic, the growth of online education in India is undeniable.
Sensing an opportunity back in the ’90s, Shantanu Prakash set up his online education venture Educomp Solutions. The bold and innovative concept behind the company turned out to be a success, shooting Educomp to fame. Shantanu Prakash’s brainchild has proved to be a game changer in the Indian education sector. Today, Educomp is featured among other global leaders on the Global Private Tutoring Market Analysis Report 2018.
The precedent set by Educomp Solutions is now being followed by several budding ed-tech and private tutoring ventures. Ed-tech startups like Eduwizards, Brainr, Vedantu, HelloClass are just to name a few. The fact that students from primary classes actively scour websites and apps in their pursuit of excellent tutors only adds to their popularity. Last few years have seen the approach of Indian parent, teacher, and student fraternity to be gradually shifting towards the worldwide web, especially in urban and semi-urban India.
Online private tutoring has changed the existing dynamics of the Indian education sector in more ways than imagined. First and foremost, it has successfully addressed the vast gap between the demand and supply of skilled teachers. India reportedly has a shortage of about 2 million school teachers. Online private tutoring has emerged as a viable solution to this grave issue.
The second attribute to the potential success is the immensely large consumer base. With roughly 100 million students in private schools and more than 20 million students enrolled in various universities, addressing the needs of the current generation presents a large, profitable business opportunity to investors.
According to a report released by the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO), about 20 per cent Indian students pursuing undergraduate courses and 13 per cent pursuing post graduate courses avail private tuition through offline and online modes. Tutoring as an industry is estimated to be $11 billion, growing approximately 12 per cent year on year, and is expected to touch $16 billion by the end of 2018. No doubt, conglomerates like Sahara India and Reliance Group are keen on taking the plunge into online education sector!
The dread of exams and the pressure to secure good marks eventually takes away the charm of learning. For ed-tech ventures, there is a huge scope to change this consumption pattern and provide students a chance to transform themselves from rote learners to enthusiastic learners.