The demand for online learning is growing in India. The pandemic has given a boost to all the EdTech companies in the country causing a dent in the pockets of local coaching centers.
Bengaluru: The booming EdTech industry has made it difficult for local coaching institutes to stay afloat.While the pandemic hit several other sectors, a study by online learning space in India witnessed a $2 billion funding in 2020. A study by KPMG and Google on India’s online education state that by 2021, the industry could be worth $5.96 billion.
EdTech, which was already clocking a healthy double-digit, year-on-year growth before Covid-19, suddenly got a massive boost with inflow of investments, acquisition, and more players quickly shifting to online EdTech market. Anish Nair strategic Alliance Manager of Expertrons said, “EdTech industry has boomed like anything. It has increased dramatically (enrollment of students). Now you won’t see any coaching centers, now everywhere it is EdTech. Initially it was handful of companies who call themselves as EdTech but now you see there are so many options. This is a domain where you make a lot of money.”
As Covid-induced lockdown continues, the demand for online learning is set to grow further. Industry leaders say the edtech boom will continue in 2021. This has been a problem for local coaching centres around Bangalore city. Local coaching centers are unable to compete with the booming EdTech industry as they don’t have enough funds to completely change their mode of teaching, as well as EdTech demands for tech friendly teachers. Purna Chandra Sahu, who is running The Basic Concept Academy for 20 years in Koramangala said, “In Koramangala more than 50 academics were there 3 years back, today if you see there are countable 5-6 academies remaining. We are not able to continue, because for online you have to learn a lot of things it is not just taking class.”
India’s EdTech sector has attracted private equity investments of around $4 billion in the last five years. Students opting for skill-based education and students appearing for competitive entrance exams prefer EdTech platforms over the local coaching centers. Ishan Sarma, a student of Scalar academy said, “I choose an EdTech platform like Scalar because it is completely remote. So, it was transportation efficient, I didn’t have to commute to that place. It was very much time efficient for me. And the faculties over there knew the ground reality and what basically need to be taught. Also, in EdTech there is a point where you can rewatch the videos.” Most students prefer to attend classes from the comfort of their home. This has given a boost to all the EdTech companies and has lead to many local coaching classes shutting down. Online education has also helped students to have more time for self-study.
