How COVID and Lockdown boosted the Ed-tech industry

From chalk-and-board to click-and-learn, traditional learning bites the dust, whilst e-learning has paved the way to the new normal of online education.

For years, the adoption of technology in education was an elitist notion. The stereotypical chalk-and-talk was deemed to be perfect for students. But now, things have considerably changed. With the advent of COVID-19 in early 2020, precisely in India, the second week of March, in wake of this emergency, the schools and colleges were shut temporarily as a preventive measure to curb the spread. But no one was certain for how long this temporary would prevail.

In India, about 285 million students and learners were impacted by the mass shutdown. From a global perspective, according to UNESCO, the education of over 1.5 billion children in 195 countries had been compromised.

Amidst a pandemic that spread out faster than wildfires, life came to standstill. But in the history of education and e-learning, this was an epoch. As COVID brewed, it propelled Ed-tech into a spotlight and since then e-learning has gained an undiminishable momentum.

The Catalyst that Brewed the Ed-Techs in India

Ed-techs in India existed even before the outbreak, however, the pace of their trajectory was sluggish.

But these coinciding facets propelled Ed-tech to a whole level

COVID-19The ongoing covid crisis has utterly disrupted the field of education. To combat this loss, the transition from chalk and board to click and learn has been imperative. Nearly all educational institutes in India have shifted towards online platforms to continue with their academic courses. Schools, universities, colleges, skill-developing institutions, have embraced e-learning and have ditched the conventional methodology. They have found this approach relatively labour-saving.

With this crisis still looming, the Ed-tech market has not just boomed for the K-12 and the university segment, but working professionals as well. The rising complexities in the business world call for re-skilling. It draws emphasis on investment in human capital to create a value-based work aura. And therefore, corporate professionals have found e-learning as a convenient, cost-effective solution for upgrading not just their professional but personal growth as well, by taking up enhancement of courses at the comfort and safety of their homes. According to Microsoft’s earning’s report, LinkedIn, the world’s largest platform for professionals, has recorded a 26 percent surge in engagement across all platforms.

Ed-tech companies in India, namely, upGrad, Byju’s, accelerated their engagement by offering free live classes and practice tests. Byju’s, India's third most-valued unicorn, has made significant profit amidst the pandemic. It has raised over US$ 1million from January to September 2020 and currently has 40 million registered users and over 2.8 million paid users.

Additional Favours
The government of India recognizes the potential of this industry and believes it can change the fate of the country. According to the IBEF, India has around 500 million of its population in the age bracket of 5 to 24 years. This is the most technologically evolved bracket and offers scope to Ed-tech giants in India as well as globally. Additionally, India leads the world by having 250 million school-going children. The Indian education sector in FY 19 was estimated at US$ 101.1 billion and has expected to grow by 38% in the next five years.

Along with the 100% FDI allowance in the Ed-tech sector, it launched the Digital India Campaign in 2015. This move incentivizes the electronic industry and has proven to be beneficial to children and learners. One of the core features that support this campaign is that India's internet data is the cheapest in the world. One gigabyte (GB) would cost $0.26 in India, whereas in the US it is $12.37 and on a global average of $8.53

In early March, given the pandemic, the Kerala Government decided to give a boost of 30 to 40 percent in the internet bandwidth in the light of the closure of schools to assist students in continuing to learn online, especially for the ones preparing for the upcoming entrance examination.

Investment and market at an all-time high
Even before the outbreak, the Ed-Tech industry witnessed decent gradual growth globally. However, over the past few years, the ed-tech sector’s figures have skyrocketed and have reached a breathtaking number of US $18.66 billion in FY19. It was also projected that the online education domain would hit $ 350 billion by 2025.

As the pandemic kicked in and the numbers brewed by the hour, so did the statistics for Ed-tech companies. In a span of merely four months, the industry globally attracted the US $ 4.5 million. This has been the highest funding ever in this industry over the last decade.

Given the trends and the new normal established by COVID, this industry is here to stay and is anticipated at the US $87 billion by the next decade.