The scope of Online Education in India
Although online education has been a comparatively new entrant in the field of Indian education, it’s already gained a presence in the education sector. And why not, its common knowledge that the current education system with its state funded colleges and universities cannot keep up with the demands of the students. Lack of infrastructure, crowded classrooms and understaffed faculty add to the dismal state of public education. The exorbitant tuition fees of the private colleges and universities have further affected the reach of education for many sections in the society.
The need of the hour is an interface that can make good use of the available resources and provides guidance and creative learning solutions at an affordable price. Online education certainly fits the bill for the above requirement. The online educational products are targeted at school children, as well as students who are preparing for national and international competitive exams. The products can be classified into the following segments:
Online curriculum based programs
Learning solutions for school students
Online tutorials for school children and students of competitive exams
Online test matter for competitive exams like CAT, GMAT, GRE, AIPMT, AIEEE and more
Online curriculum based programs are targeted at children from classes IX to XII. Greycells 18 is one of the companies involved in a similar venture although they use both television and the Internet as their product medium. By hiring people with teaching experience in top institutes like IIM Bangalore, IIT Kanpur, IIT Roorkee, IIT Delhi and Pittsburg University; the company intends to provide secondary Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics learning solutions for CBSE and other related state boards.
Educomp Solutions is another well known name in the online education business. One of its product module, Smart Class is a technology-enabled learning solution that caters to private schools in India under the BOOT (build, own, operate and transfer) model. The Smart class system includes a virtual school, where parents, teachers and students can communicate with each other. Teachers can upload assignments that students can download, as well as make available important information for parents to view. In the financial year 2005, this segment alone contributed INR 2.95 Crore of the total revenue.
But it’s the online tutorial product which is the golden child of the virtual education sector. 2008 witnessed a 150% growth in demand for online tutorials in comparison to 2007. Currently, the online tutorial market in India is worth $27 million (INR 105 Crores). As per the report by brokerage firm CLSA Asia Pacific Markets, in four years, this value is predicted to reach around $280 million (INR 1,092 Crores). Online tutorials not only provide good content, multi-media modules, test papers and recorded sessions; it also facilitates live real time communications between students and teachers. www.2tion.com is one company which has won the student’s loyalty for online tutoring.
Online tutorials have captured the students’ attention as it allows them access to the very best of tutors, geographical locations no bar. A student living in Sangli can have access to tutors teaching in IITs. Thus, a student’s area of choice has widened to include different cities and countries in his selection of tutors. The flexibility of online tutoring is immense. As students can attend the tutorial sessions from the comfort of his homes, travelling with all its incurred costs can be cut down. Besides that, it also saves time and energy. Students also have the provision to clarify their doubts anytime of the day or night through email or chat.
The online availability of test papers for competitive exams like CAT, GMAT, GRE and AIEEE have led to massive online following by various student communities. Web 2.0 interface has further opened up the channels of communications between students and their peers. This means that students can now get feedbacks and recommendations from fellow net users about test matters, online solutions, tutorials, institutes and much more. Perversely, if a company engaged in online educational products or services tries to cheat its user base, then his credibility can take a big hit in forums and blogs. Some of the more popular sites in terms of active user base include pagalguy and goiit.
In spite of the progress of online education, there is still much ground to be covered in India by this sector. The first hurdle that they face is the lack of computer education. The computer is still an item of luxury and it will take some time before we can expect a PC in every home in India. Another important point to be considered is the dismal broadband penetration. The July 2008 report by the Telecom regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) testified that only 4 million users have access to broadband connection. For a country with a population of over 1.1 billion, this figure is indeed dismal.
The success of online education is limited to the metros and tier 1 cities where students are more net savvy and have access to personal computers. For all its worth, online education is still very much in the periphery of the education system in India. This is partly because most Indian schools still follow a didactic system of teaching where the use of technology and multimedia is limited. Parents are also not too aware of the benefits of online education. This means that online education remains a backend support which cannot replace the traditional method of classroom teaching. Only time will tell whether online education can make proper inroads into the heart of the educational system of India.
