Parents in India are always willing to go the extra mile for the sake of their children’s studies

The Indian publishing space is a fast-evolving space with newer opportunities opening up for all players. Oxford University Press (OUP) is credited with running operations in India for over a hundred years. Fathima Dada, Managing Director, Educational Division, OUP, shares her observations on what makes the Indian market a unique entity. Edited excerpts: You are a strong player in K12 in India and a recognised brand in higher education internationally. How do you blend these two elements in your offerings?

I see it as an opportunity rather than a challenge because we can be very local and global. We have lots of feet on the ground, lots of editorial people and experts here.

But we can also bring the best of what we learn in other geographies and markets. We believe that there is space for everyone here. The healthy local competition allows teachers so many diverse choices. Because you know, a teacher is not a generic thing.

Neither is a learner, you get so many different learning styles preferences. And educational products must reflect that. So, in the school space, we wouldn’t do things like just drop on the materials or learning content or services from other parts but would rather think very carefully. Within India, curriculum needs are so varied due to the different kinds of schools.

For instance, for international schools here, we bring the best of global content. For the local private schools and even they have different categories but there we bring products that combine the best of local and regional practices.

› Focusing on digital doesn’t mean having the shiniest gadget but to find tools that are more effective and engaging. For example, it allows assessment that’s more immediate. Using data analytics allows one to identify unique capabilities of a student and provide specialised feedback.

FATHIMA DADA, Managing Director, Educational Division, OUP

What are any key learnings from the K12 sector?

I’ve been coming here on and off for 10 years working in the K 12 sector and what I’ve seen is that there’s always been an appetite for digital. In the last 10 years, every time I come back, that desire for digital is only increasing. In the beginning it was just shiny things like little digital assets like CDs, and whiteboards. Then publishers started teaming up with hardware players to bring digital infrastructure to schools. Initially, teachers were uncomfortable in using digital aids. But now teachers have not just become comfortable but have also transitioned form computers to mobiles. When I first started coming actually smartphones were hardly available. And I’m just amazed at how quickly the smartphone move has happened in India and teachers are now ready for mobile delivered interactive content. In digitally advanced markets, we were able to accelerate learning easily.

But even in India, a strong technical and engineering community means that the transition was effective and helpful. Being a global brand doesn’t mean we only bring best practices from other parts of the world to India but also ensure that learnings from the Indian market are utilised in other markets simply because the learning space is a very dynamic one.

What I found here is that parents are very committed to funding education and this is not the case in several other countries. Investing in after school tutoring and paying for the textbooks themselves with a smile on the face because the learning of the kids is the most important is something I found in India and China. What does this digital turn mean for you as a business?

The way we think about digital is that we don’t do digital for the sake of digital or because we are afraid the market is changing. In the case of the K 12 space globally, we believe it will remain blended for a very long time.

One of the good things about digital is that a lot of the young people are, digital natives. It’s a great mechanism to get them engaged in their learning. Focusing on digital doesn’t mean having the shiniest gadget but to find tools that are more effective and engaging.

For example, it allows assessment that’s more immediate. Using data analytics allows one to identify unique capabilities of a student and provide specialised feedback. I think digital is more able to accommodate different learning styles.

If you think about a textbook, it’s a linear. It goes from page one to page 200 and lessons have to be taught in a similar way every day. Whereas with digital, you can teach the class together whileusing a textbook and then you can deploy assessment activities and remediation activities using digital.Teachers are very short of time these days, there’s so much to do. Digital tools can be used to save them time by offering assessment through multiple choice questions. And in fact, artificial intelligence is starting to move into narrative assessment as well. But certainly some of the easy marking through multiple choice can be done for them if they’ve deployed things digitally.

They can be saved time because pre-planned model lessons can be developed and then they can make them their own by interacting without having to invent from scratch. We think very deeply about what are the unique capabilities digital can bring to enhance the teaching and learning experience. And then we blend that. I think we’re very far away from the hundred percent digital class. What is the role played by digital in higher education space?

In the case of higher education, digital hasn’t been as interactive and as assessment linked as it has become in K 12. A lot of higher education students are reading print behind glass basically.

The e-books are like physical books in many cases. Seveal industries have reported that often graduates are not employable or lack the relevant skills. This is a space where we believe digital can contribute. Students with great academic credentials are also sometimes lacking skills like soft skills and that is a place where innovation can help. For instance, all of us are now expected to work collaboratively and that’s a skill one may not develop at an educational institution. A lot of the skills that are needed in 2013 are not the technical skills anymore because with artificial intelligence, some of those will increasingly be automated. You’re going to need social scientists. You’re going to need health workers. We need a generation of leaders and workers who can work in diverse conditions.