Reimagining learning: Growth of EdTech Start-ups in India

India's EdTech sector is proposed to grow further as the expenditure on AR/VR technologies to undertake digital learning is expected to rise to $12.6bn in 2025.

The transformative “toddler to college” reform is the most effective since the amendment of the 10+2+3 routine. The Government of India had revealed the new National Education Policy which is about to reshape the school education system by setting out the age of 3-6 years as a pre-school phase, de-emphasise the “highly important” boards, introduce an SAT-like university entrance test and provide the option of a four-year bachelor's degree at the undergraduate level.

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The amendments in the board structure, which try to portray the exams to be a test of “core competencies”, would be implemented from the academic session of June 2021. The university entrance test would be in place for the college admissions from the academic session of 2022. The NEP has the objective to provide the students with enhanced flexibility in the selection of subjects. There would be no separation between arts and sciences, curricular and extra-curricular activities. There has been an enhanced improvement in the teaching pedagogy, with growing importance being given to online education. Due to this, several EdTech opportunities have come up and online education is expected to be a growing field for start-ups to explore.

The pandemic has accelerated the usage of online education to help both, the students, and the teachers to embrace a digital experience. Within only a few days of the nationwide lockdown being implemented, several schools and universities have reoriented the traditional teaching pedagogy to adapt to the digital platform. India's EdTech sector,valued at almost $2bn, is the second biggest in the world after the US. Attempts are being made to make the virtual classrooms more effective by making use of innovative EdTech start-ups like Vedantu, Unacademy, Toppr, Byjus, and UpGrad. Many of them are offering free education and leveraging AI and gamification to add value to the classroom learning. The EdTech sector has been proposed to grow further as the expenditure on AR/VR technologies to undertake digital learning is expected to rise to $12.6bn in 2025.

Edtech Boom

There have been several small and large organisations that have joined hands to take advantage of this situation. Byju′s has partnered with Whitehat Jr in a 300-million-dollar deal. They would be sharing technical and educational expertise to impart training to children.

Simplilearn collaborates with NSDC to provide almost 1,000+ hours of free online learning in the field of digital technology for professionals across the nation. Simplilearn is said to be a global training service provider of digital skills. It has joined hands with National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) to continue the learning of digital skills of the Indian workforce, who have been impacted due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

This integration focuses to build a future-ready workforce by taking advantage of technology. By the initiative, both the organizations in the picture would get access to over 1,000 hours of digital online training programs under the areas of Big Data, Data Science & Business Intelligence, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Cyber Security, Project Management, Software Development, and Digital Marketing. All the programs have been designed with a unique learning structure, that allows the learners to attain understanding along with practical experience with digital skills.

Not only educational institutions, even government organizations and private companies have been taking advantage of the situation of the growing EdTech market. Looking at the current scenario of the pandemic, online learning is here to stay. The innovation ecosystem will only thrive if the entrepreneurs cater to all the segments of learners. Anytime learning, experiential learning, and self-learning are the new pockets of the growth for the upcoming EdTech start-ups.

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