Girish is an entrepreneur who has a vision coupled with an unwavering want to create. He brings 15 years of experience across the Education, FMCG and Financial Service sectors and is driven by a visceral “hard-wired” need to strategize, to innovate, to execute and to disprove the words – “It can’t be done”. His greatest passion lies in unlocking the potential that each individual has, and in enabling them to achieve their best. He strongly believes that in this golden era of opportunities in India, the biggest factor of success for our country will be our ability to transform our people into high-performing contributors to the economy. This led to the birth of EduBridge and is still central to the vision and mission of EduBridge.
The Advent
For most industries, going digital was always on the cards. Digitization was catalyzed by the pandemic. It’s recorded during the pandemic about 55% of the industries have gone completely digital. Since economic conditions were volatile professionals and learners could feel the heat of inflation infiltrating into their lives. Going digital seemed like the only answer to arrest the growing economic tension. The workforce wasn’t equipped to take on this monumental change. Lay-off became more pronounced making it quintessential for learners and professionals to upskill or even reskill to align themselves to the dynamic needs of the workforce.
The means
In India, EdTech’s emerged as a growing part of the educational culture since the 2010s. This branch of learning witnessed a stupendous surge during the pandemic as professionals and learners viewed it as an exciting means of upskilling or even reskilling themselves. EdTech companies served as a perfect training platform for employers as the latter saved on L&D.
EdTech companies have collaborated with some prominent counting-houses to create industry-aligned programs for learners. The courses educate learners in fields such as management, finance, technology, hospitality, and many more. This also makes learners ready to be absorbed in the workforce with a certain immediacy.
EdTech companies incorporate requisite soft skills training within their module giving these professionals and learners the required finesse and confidence to essay their profiles with grace. Learners are trained to brace themselves in socially awkward situations.
Some of these companies walk their learners through a rigorous interview process whereby upon acquiring the job the recruits are handheld by the EdTech companies for the first six months of employment.
The possibilities
EdTech companies (to some extent) have been instrumental in shaping the educational ecosystem from the grassroots. It took 36 years and a pandemic for the NEP (National Education Programme) to realize that the programs employed at schools had out-lived their course. The change was essential to equip the youth with an education that could enliven their future and that of the country too. In 2020, the obsolete 3+4+5+2 system was cast away to be replaced by a system that was more inclusive and immersive.
It’s also here that EdTech companies can play a crucial role in helping schools to employ more immersive mediums such as artificial intelligence and augmented reality to enhance the overall learning experience.
EdTech companies will play a critical role in educating instructors on the digital know-how and revitalizing the overall educational experience and camouflaging the disparity caused by the digital divide.
The change essentially needs to take place at every level to foster economic growth. While India has already started making headway in the direction it will only take a little more time for the change to entrench itself in every state and infiltrate at learning institutions and academies that are premised in the rural parts of India.