Covid-19: Opportunities, challenges and growth for the edtech sector

Few events in recent history have caused as much disruption, across spheres, as Covid-19. This rupture was most acutely felt in the realm of education. While e-commerce took seven years to pick momentum in India and billions of dollars to change consumer behaviour, this occurred almost overnight for the education technology (edtech) sector. The pandemic accelerated the adoption of digital education with the indefinite closure of educational institutes across the world. With prolonged lockdowns, people had little choice but to adapt and move their activities online. Unlike the resourceful information technology (IT) and IT enabled-services sectors, which could afford to adjust to the new normal, the Indian education system was ill-equipped and unprepared to move teaching and instructions online.

Eventually, urban India caught on, after instituting new methodologies for conducting online classes. The story remains incomplete for semi-urban and rural India, as schools in large swathes of the country struggled to host sessions due to a paucity of resources. Nevertheless, the pandemic has opened up space, giving educational start-ups the opportunity to expand their businesses and reach.

Receiving over $2.2 billion of funding, the Indian edtech sector dominated headlines through 2020. The edtech ecosystem has seen multiple players catering across different verticals — from supporting schools for K-12 education to after school learning, from the massive test preparation market to, now, the adult lifelong learning segment.

One of the key reasons for the resounding growth of this sector has definitely been the “local first” approach of the players, where they have embraced vernacular languages as well as taken into account regional disparities while implementing solutions. Though global in approach, this sector has been able to use both India’s demographic dividend to its advantage and leveraged the Indian consumers’ price elasticity for quality education.

While issues of access were, at some level, resolved by select service providers, the real opportunity lies in the huge numbers that this sector has the potential to cater to. India continues to have the largest number of young people in any country, and they need to be skilled and trained for the next decade.

Both audio and video content are now being delivered live and on demand, allowing students and participants to work at their own pace, as need be. There have also been huge advances in tech as well as curriculum design to minimise the use of internet bandwidth, given that this remains a constraint for most of our country. The learning experience has evolved to become more holistic, by adding gamification, communities, flip classrooms and discussion forums. There is a greater possibility and ability to personalise feedback for students and allow for assessments and reinforced learning. With learning on the go a possibility, corporates and adults alike see this as a renewed option to upskill themselves while not compromising productivity.

But there are real challenges too. The widening gap between the haves and have-nots, and the lack of affordable access to quality teachers, rank high among the challenges faced online or offline in the education space. In addition, given that sustenance is a significant issue for emerging edtech players, maintaining quality is a tough task, considering that there is a dearth of qualified teachers who are digitally literate.

While the National Education Policy 2020 lays emphasis on maximising online education opportunities through virtual labs, meeting teaching standards will be a long and arduous task that will take years to accomplish. The language proficiencies of teachers and students, lack of motivation to participate wilfully, and limits in allocations on education in annual budgets, are some of the other glaring challenges.

However, a developing economy such as India must aspire and continue to dream about achieving higher levels of literacy, quality education and integration of technology into the sector. Periodic assessments, redressal mechanisms, stakeholder consultation, and timely policy changes can prepare us in facing the challenges posed by the education sector in the future.