India’s online initiatives for tuitions and test preparations are quite well-known. With players like Byjus, Unacademy offering content solutions for a range of subjects, there is no dearth of companies that cater to these student needs in India. However, when it comes to education technology (EdTech) used in schools and most higher education institutions, the implementation is quite scarce.
This was one of the gaping holes that was identified by Indian and Australian EdTech leaders and academics at a workshop organised in Bengaluru by the Australia India Institute in collaboration with the State government of Victoria and IIIT Bengaluru on June 27, Thursday. It brought together industry experts to discuss and deliberate on the status of EdTech in India, and how to leverage the power of technology to improve the education sector in both countries.
The discussions touched upon the present EdTech scenario in Victoria, a state in Australia, and India; notable EdTech companies; opportunities to implement technology in human resource development and recruitment; and the challenges in the sector. While the EdTech sector in Victoria looked more established in terms of funding and experience, Indian EdTech sector seemed to have more room for growth and innovation if India’s sole EdTech unicorn, Byjus, is removed from the picture.
The unanimous view throughout the event was that EdTech is a space that presents a lot of opportunities – not just in delivery of education, but also in learning and institution management. With increased regulatory issues, EdTech solutions can help institutions focus on education rather than administrative work. Attendees were also was on the same page that said that schools lag far behind when it came to using technology to make learning interesting and immersive for the students.
Distinguished entrepreneurs in the Indian and Australian EdTech sectors like Mayank Kumar of UpGrad, S Kannan of Quiklrn, Ashish Vikram of Videoken, David Linke of EduGrowth (Australia) and Srikanth Ganesan of Littlemore Innovations shared their views on the EdTech industry. Agreeing that more collaborations ought to happen between enterprises with different expertise, the entrepreneurs also resonated with the view that government education agencies and universities need to experiment more with using technology to build efficiency. This, they said, will keep the focus solely on delivering quality education.
While professors Kris Ryan from Monash University and Chandrashekar Ramanathan IIITB presented their side of the story, talking about how EdTech has influenced the education in their classrooms and institutions, consultants presented the numbers and data from their research into the market.