Future of Indian Edtech Landscape

The past few years saw new words enter the public lexicon. Words like “Great Resignation” and “Great Reshuffle” became part of the global board room talk. Employees were leaving to follow their dream professions or to upskill themselves.

On the other hand, the organizations facilitating these upskilling initiatives, Edtech firms, faced their own challenges. With rising losses, even the big players in the industry were not immune to setbacks. But what caused the current predicament?

Pandemic-fueled boom in the Edtech industry

There was always a need for technology in education, and the edtech industry was solving these challenges by providing access to quality education to everyone at nominal costs. But mainstream institutes had yet to embrace this concept. The pandemic however changed all that.

Overnight, there was a need for remote and e-learning solutions, and the institutes had to embrace digitization to survive. As a result, many decided to partner with existing edtech providers, while others created their solutions.

Enrollments in online courses skyrocketed. The number of hybrid and distance-only students in traditional universities saw a 92% growth in 2020 alone. Spurred by this growth and the minimal barrier to entry, many new players quickly entered the online education market. They promptly began competing with online education giants, local and national universities for a piece of the edtech pie.

An influx of investments and increased competition incentivized deep discounts to capture market share. A handful of big players started consolidating their positions through big-ticket strategic acquisitions. Everyone expected the demand only to rise further. But soon, the world reopened, and so did educational institutes. Thus, the need for online education dipped. So, is the global Edtech boom over? Not quite.

How can the industry recover from here?

While institutes have reopened, student preferences have changed dramatically. They now seek academic flexibility, self-paced learning, and on-demand learning resources. Educational institutes must discard the one-size fits all policy and offer hybrid options to students. They must improve the quality of education as students have become savvier about the returns of their educational investments.

Here are certain factors that can help edtech institutes bounce back:

• Institutes must upgrade their career planning and coaching services. According to Mckinsey's research,35% of learners consider additional education to overcome a stalled career. Online institutes can consistently engage students and set career goals to provide them with better career options.
• Every student has their own needs and motivations for choosing a particular course. By using intelligent solutions and technologies, online institutes can gain an in-depth understanding of their students and provide them with a personalized experience that ensures retention and turns them into brand ambassadors.
• Lastly, online learning institutes must guarantee the security of students' data and other personal information. Online institutes are a treasure trove for bad actors and can be vulnerable to cybersecurity attacks. Securing your systems protects institutes from losing reputation or going out of business.

How will the Indian education policy supplement growth?

2020 saw the launch of the National Education Policy (NEP), which brought in sweeping changes to the Indian education system after 34 years. The policy seeks to provide education to all Indians in the age group of 6-14 years. This will be done with the help of several digital courses launched in regional languages. In addition, there is a particular focus on digital content delivery so that the government will create a massive digital infrastructure.

The government is also encouraging the Indian edtech industry to take up the mantle and provide innovative, cost-effective, and accessible solutions to meet the growing global demand.

In Conclusion:

Even though the edtech institutes faced considerable challenges during the past few months, the industry grew at 15%. With emerging technologies, new and exciting opportunities are presenting themselves every day. Global leaders are excited about how the metaverse will change the future of learning. Recently, the Indian Finance Minister launched an e-learning platform called Bharat Vidya which will further augment the NEP 2020.

This is just the start for the Indian Education sector, which is poised for considerable growth.