Tap into E3.6 trillion e-learning market
MBABANE – Senator Fezeka Dlamini has advised the cash-strapped University of Eswatini (UNESWA) to consider putting its short courses on e-learning platform.
The e-learning market revenue is estimated at E3.6 trillion (US$187.87 billion) by 2026, according to a report from Grand View Research.
INVESTING
Grand View Research stated that the market was expected to continue to grow in the coming years, as more companies and organisations were investing in e-learning solutions to improve their training and development processes.
There are a lot of opportunities for unlocking the potential profits of your e-learning initiative and monetising with with
Open edX,” reads the report from the researchers.
Making a submission in Senate during the debate on the performance report of the Ministry of Education and Training, Senator Fezeka was concerned about decrease of funding for UNESWA, which occurred on a yearly basis.
FINANCIAL CHALLENGES
She said she observed that the institution continued to experience serious financial challenges that disturbed learning and lecturing.
The senator then posed a question: “Honourable minister, has UNESWA considered partnering with edX and other online learning platform in offering short courses in order to increase revenue for the institution?”
She said edX is an online platform founded by Havard University and MIT. She said the University of Cape Town and University of Wits in South Africa, among others, have taken advantages of the opportunities provided by edX, Coursera and others.
She also wanted to know if the Eswatini Qualifications Authority, established to validate and recognise qualifications and learning, would not clash with the Eswatini Higher Education Council, set up and mandated to regulate higher education in the country.
“On the surface, it appears the authority and council have been assigned the same task and responsibilities.
Can the minister explain how the Ministry of Education and Training will harmonise their mandates so that there are no duplications of duties and functions?” asked Sentator Fezeka.
The senator also wanted the minister to give the latest developments regarding the process to transform William Pitcher Training College and Ngwane Teachers College into universities.
Senator Fezeka said the William Pitcher Training College would be turning 62 years in September this year.
“Are there challenges that the college can offer degree courses while processing its transformation into a university?” she wanted to know.
TINKHUNDLA
She then commended the Ministry of Education and Training for conducting a need assessment studies to ensure subjects being taught in schools were relevant to the current times and further responding to demands of the future.
The lawmaker said the ministry’s need assessment study resulted in the expansion of the Development Studies to incorporate a curriculum in the Tinkhundla System of Government.
She wanted to know when pupils would begin to take the Tinkhundla System of Government as a subject.
Owen Nxumalo, the Minister of Education and Training, would respond to the senator’s questions in writing. She also wanted to know if students from VOCTIM received government scholarships.
In fact, the senator said she was happy that Eswatini recognised the critical role of Technical Vocational Education and Training (YVET) as it prepared individuals for diverse career paths.
E-LEARNING PLATFORM
It must be said that, except for professional education, boot camps and executive education courses, there is no cost for taking edX open courses when one enrols in the free audit track, which does not offer certificates or provide graded assignments.
However, if one wants to be able to earn a certificate for a course and complete assignments, there is a fee
that will vary depending on the course.
The fees for the verified track usually range between E900 (US$50) and E5 400 (US$300).
The fees for upgrading to the verified track or enrolling in a professional education, boot camp, or executive education course are the only charges on edX. There are no other fees associated with edX courses.
It must be said that edX has a financial assistance programme for 90 per cent off the upgrade fee to help learners who demonstrate financial need to earn verified certificates.
It has also been learnt that edX platform has a global audience reach of over 78 million learners. They access the courses and programmes through the edX marketplace.
Grand View Research stated that the education industry was generating income by leveraging new technologies such as e-commerce capabilities to their courses and services.
The organisation said there were two main reasons institutions are monetising their online platforms.
The first reason is because their business model requires courses and services to be sold to generate revenue.
The second reason is for those businesses that want to break even and provide quality education at the lowest cost possible.
Their main objective is to give access to their content to the biggest audience at the lowest price possible to maintain their operations and their online platforms running.
SOME WAYS TO START MONETISING
Researchers stated that having a digital presence ‘is already a must for any kind of business no matter the industry or type of service’.
They said the transition to digital businesses has created new opportunities for business owners to create new revenue sources.
As a result, the Open edX technology has opened infinity of possibilities for various industries giving them the ability to share their content to educate target populations, improve onboarding processes and share information more dynamically and interactively, thus opening the possibility to profit from quality content.
COURSERA
Another globally acclaimed e-learning platform is Coursera, a for-profit USA-based massive open online course provider founded in 2012.
It was founded by Stanford University Computer Science Professors Andrew Ng and Daphne Koller.
It must be said that Coursera works with universities and other organisations to offer online courses, certifications and degrees in a variety of subjects.
As of 2023, more than 300 universities and companies were offering courses through Coursera, and by 2024, the number of courses available had risen to approximately 7 000.
The University of Michigan and University of Pennsylvania
Pennsyslavia was the first institution to offer content on the platform.