Neetin Agrawal is Senior Vice President, Knowledge at Toppr. He is an IIT Madras alumnus, having completed his B.Tech in Electronics in 2006. Altogether, he holds a decade-long experience in teaching young learners. He has mentored multiple top-100 rankers in JEE Advanced/ IIT-JEE. Neetin was a Professor of Physics at leading institutions in Kota including Bansal Class and Vibrant Academy for nearly 6 years. Subsequently, he founded an edtech company Dronstudy in 2015. More than 1.5 million students have benefited from DronStudy across platforms. Besides his active role as a teacher, Mr. Agrawal has authored 3 popular books on IIT-JEE Physics. He also loves to share his thoughts on education through articles and authored pieces.
The Edtech sector in India has witnessed exponential growth over the past few years. An industry that had a negligible small footprint with limited reach almost a decade ago is expected to be worth more than USD 3.5 billion by the end of 2022. This 5x growth in the Edtech sector has risen sharply since 2019 when it was worth just over USD 735 million.
Several factors have contributed to the astonishing growth of the Edtech sector in the country. Attributing the Covid-19 pandemic as the sole reason for the growth would be an exaggeration as several Edtech startups like Toppr had a deep consumer base much before the onset of the pandemic. Then, what apart from the pandemic has impacted or is likely to impact the spurt in Edtech growth? Let us understand.
Internet Penetration: According to an IAMAI-Kantar ICUBE 2020 report, there were about 622 million active users in India two years ago. This number is expected to increase by 45% in 2025, with an estimated 900 million users. Moreover, the smartphone ownership among government school student families has increased from 30% in 2018 to 56% in 2020. This upward trajectory is likely to continue in the near future.
Government Initiatives: The government has been keen on introducing new policy measures for the Edtech sector. For instance, the National Education Policy, 2020 stressed the importance of leveraging technology in education, while also supporting the creation of learning resources in regional languages.
Immense Potential in K-12: The Kindergarten to class 12 group or K-12 has seen larger interest from parents, students, academics, and investors alike. India has had 1782 K-12 startups since 2018. According to Tracxn, Indian Edtech firms raised USD 5.77 billion in funding up to November 2021, of which USD 99 million was raised by K-12 Edtech platforms.
Impact of Edtech on Learning and Teaching
Interactive Learning and Training Process: Students’ interactivity has increased in a tech-enabled setting with the use of applications, videos, simulations and digital books. Similarly, teachers succeed in enhancing the engagement of students in the classroom through innovative teaching methods like interactive whiteboards, documentaries, short films and more.
Better Insights on Students’ Performance: Earlier, teachers had to spend considerable time preparing individual student assessments and performance reports. The introduction of digital tools has made the preparation of assessment reports much easier. Technology helps in the automatic collection of student data, analyses it and prepares automated reports. This is a win-win situation for teachers and students.
Flexibility in Learning and Teaching: Tech-enabled learning has allowed students to take control of the entire process. Students can now learn at their own pace according to their own convenience. Generally, teachers record lectures, which students can revisit at a later stage. Similarly, teachers can now impart knowledge in a flexible manner. Their teaching tasks have eased with the availability of abundant content for teaching.
The Indian Edtech industry is growing at a significant pace with the Covid-19 pandemic further providing a major boost. India is transitioning swiftly towards tech-enabled learning. The benefits and impact of Edtech growth will trickle down to those who lagged behind due to infrastructural shortcomings, particularly in the rural areas.