There are many challenges to the growth of education and technology in India. Low internet penetration, language barriers and limited participation of women in the workforce are some of these challenges. Yet, India is also a country where eight of its 108 unicorns are in education. To make sense of what seems like a strange contradiction, one must understand the cultural context of India. It is a country that has an insatiable demand for education. Education is the beating heart of India that gives it hope for a better future. Hence, Day 2 at the GSV Emeritus India Summit is dedicated to India and how it is a gold mine of opportunities for the business of education technology. 

The discussions on Day 2 began with a declaration; this is not just India’s decade, but India’s century. Let us explore why investors, thought leaders, and founders feel so by identifying the opportunities and challenges for the growth of edtech in India.

Opportunities For India’s Education Sector

#1: A young population of 600 million seeking education

It is not every day that we look at the mammoth population of India in a positive light. But, Michael Moe, the Founder of GSV, showed us a silver lining to the cloud of our population problem. China has a low fertility rate. About 17% of their population is over 65 years of age. However, India has a high percentage of youth! Education in India is perceived to be a ticket out of poverty, and the 600 million youth seeking education, thereby offer a ready market to edupreneurs.  

Anant Agarwal, Chief Platform Officer of 2U and Founder of edX, backed this claim. He stated that India was the second biggest market for edX and made up 10 to 15% of their learners. In fact, India’s tech capital, Bangalore, was the city that gave them the highest traffic! 

“India has an incredible and insatiable demand (for edtech),” he concluded. 

#2: The pandemic has sped up technology adoption, especially in education

While COVID-19 impacted many industries adversely, edtech adapted quickly to the ‘new normal’. The lockdowns that followed meant that educational institutions had to adopt technology faster than they would have in a pre-pandemic world. On GSV Emeritus India Summit Day 2, Vivian Wu, Managing Partner, Ventures Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, commented on how the adoption of technology will continue to foster innovation in education. She said, “What you see now is the potential for bringing personalisation. There are hybrid opportunities, and we are taking the best out of each medium (online and offline) to create access and scale.”

#3: A reversal of brain drain

If you grew up in the ‘80s or ‘90s, there was no way to escape references to the term ‘brain drain’ that appeared all over the news. Essentially, 80% of our best minds from the IITs and other top universities were moving abroad in search of better opportunities. But that statistic has reversed drastically, thanks to India’s blossoming startup culture. According to LiveMint , more than 80 startups get recognised in India every day, which is the highest number in the world. 

Nandan Nilekani, the Chairman and Co-founder of  Infosys and Founding Chairman of UIDAI (Aadhaar), alluded to a reversal of the brain drain phenomenon. In his conversation with Deborah Quazzo, Managing Partner GSV Ventures, he said, “There has been a massive explosion of startup energy since the 1980s. Earlier, 80% (of potential entrepreneurs) went abroad. Now, 80% of them are staying in India to build startups.”

Such a thriving startup ecosystem is an opportunity in itself for edupreneurs. 

#4: A strong infrastructure of data on which valuable companies can be built

Nilekani, who is fondly called ‘India’s CTO’ also drew the summit’s attention to another opportunity that puts India ahead in the race. He pointed out that India is data rich and its people are data empowered. He referred to the India Stack that was built on the back records of 1.3 billion digital IDs, 80 million transactions a day on UPI, and 500 trillion biometric matches to ensure matches. “If you can create population-scale digital infrastructure and unlock it, then entrepreneurs can take advantage of that and build very valuable companies,” he summed up. In essence, the building blocks of a great digital economy have already been laid out, and there is no need to reinvent the wheel!

#5: Education is a consumer business in India

Education is a highly regulated sector in many countries like China. In some ways, this hinders uninhibited growth as regulations slow down the rolling out of learning programs or the onboarding of new educational institutions. But as Sandeep Singhal, Managing Partner, GSV Ventures, and Co-founder and MD, WestBridge Capital, pointed out, education in India is a consumer business. It’s B2C. This allows edupreneurs to move faster and innovate freely. 

“In 10 years, we will have some education-focused public companies. Unlike other markets where the government plays a huge role, in India, private companies will solve it. However, my advice is, don’t hurry, wait to be profitable before going public,” he advised. 

Challenges Plaguing India’s Education System  

#1: Business models that disregard the social aspect of education 

Education is more than just learning Math or Social Science. Holistically, education covers everything from social interactions to presentation skills. While edtech companies have been largely successful in teaching skills, the networking aspect of physical education still needs to be replicated online. 

Pratik Poddar, Partner at Nexus Venture Partners, spoke about the importance of social interactions at schools and educational institutions. Vivian Wu concurred with this and said that attempting to ‘replace’ the teacher in a classroom environment would be unsuccessful. The aim instead should be to ‘aid’ the teacher with technology.

#2: Business models are not customized for Tier-2 and 3 cities

On Day 1 of the GSV Emeritus India Summit, Rajendra Pawar, Chairman & Co-Founder of NIIT Limited, expressed that only the most passionate edupreneurs should venture into the Tier-3 towns of India. It referred to the fact that most edtech companies do very well in metro cities and fail when they try to reach out to small towns and cities using the same business model. Sajith Pai, Director of Blume Ventures, also referred to this challenge when he said, “What got you here won’t take you there.”

It is, thus, fair to say that edtech players need to come up with unique and suitable business models to tap into the immense potential of Tier-2 and 3 cities in India. 

#3: India has not been marketed as a destination for education to learners abroad

So far, the discussion has centred around Indian learners. But what about learners abroad? Do they consider India to be a suitable destination for education? Most of the panelists at the GSV Emeritus Indian Summit Day 2 felt this was yet to happen. Pratham Mittal, Founder of the Masters’ Union School of Business, felt that India did not attract a significant number of overseas learners as India Universities are yet to break into the list of top-ranking global schools. 

However, it’s not rankings but also learning outcomes that matter. And economic opportunities are why there’s a huge outflow of Indian learners to western countries. Yet, economic opportunities also cannot fully capture the full extent of why a learner chooses an educational institute or platform. Rudra Pratap, the Founding Vice Chancellor of Plaksha University, illustrated this angle with an interesting example. He mentioned the Isha Foundation and spoke of how Indian spirituality draws followers worldwide. Can this not be replicated in our education by targeting learners between 18 to 25 years?

Madan Pillutla, the Dean of ISB, backed up this suggestion as he stated, “The heterogeneity of our culture has not been marketed to learners aboard.” For instance, a student sitting in Ireland probably does know that India offers campuses with so many cultural identities, cuisines, and arts.

#4: A monolithic model of education

Anant Agarwal, introduced in the adjacent image, pointed out one of the most deep-rooted challenges in our education system. “We have an ivory tower education model now, which is a monolithic system. Learners enter at the bottom and come out on top,” he explained. The problem with the monolithic education model is that it doesn’t allow the learner to choose or learn in bits and pieces. 

To counter this challenge, he proposed the LEGO model of education, where skills were taught and credentials were given in a microsystem. The blocks of LEGO would represent shorter courses that can be added as and when a learner requires them. Not only would this reduce the dropout rate, but it also would give greater autonomy to learners. 

#5: Affordability of higher education

The last challenge discussed at the GSV Emeritus India Summit Day 2 is not unique to India. It is, in fact, a common struggle for edtech players and institutions around the world. The inability to afford education beyond a point is the most significant deterrent to education. And to counter it, we must consider education a human right instead of an exclusive privilege. 

Madan Pillutla summed up the proceedings of the GSV Emeritus India Summit Day 2 with a problem statement that will give all edupreneurs something to think about. He said, “World over, the biggest challenge is that higher education has been out of reach for a lot of people who need it and also deserve it. Can the Indian universities provide high-quality education at prices anyone can afford?”

At the end of Day 2 in the GSV Emeritus India Summit, it’s definitely looking like India’s century. Watch this space for more updates and discussions that are coming up on the last day of the summit. 

Written by Anwesha Barari