START UP INDIA – WHERE IS THE SCOPE FOR EDUCATION?

There is enough sound and fury about ‘Start up India’ – with the promises and hopes offered by 2016!

Does the field of Education offer opportunities for start ups? Yes. Enough and more.. But what are the challenges?

In the last few years one has witnessed a number of entrepreneurs marketing a variety of tools and products, and venture capitalists searching out investment opportunities either in capital or in operational domains.  Unfortunately, a number of these products and services have webbed around certain selective concepts or needs, thus creating a very unhealthy competition in marketing and sales. Not much efforts have made to address some sensitive areas. In trying to provide concessionary supports, there appears to be a compromise either in the credibility and validity of the conceptual designs or to bring in more an entertainment value.  Leadership products appear to be far and few. The next few years will seek products that would need a differentiated thinking (concentric to the curriculum) and would add value to the services rendered by the schools and higher institutions of learning rather than those who would supplement their data management needs and services. The new start ups would certainly have to start with an out of box thinking.

Secondly, the buyers need to be more flexible, look for newer tools and practices that run concurrent to an evolved technology dominated society and its learning practices.  A mere hardware replacement with an upgrade technology may not be an answer. The buyers need to impact and influence the producers with emerging conceptual designs in pedagogy and skills so that there is a reasonable innovation in software that would help in the design of thinking classrooms. Software which reflect a textbook or provide audio-visual gimmicks that may be a temporary entertainment value may not have sustainability in the emerging markets. There is an urgent for a participatory engagement between the buyers and producers. Unfortunately both of them appear to be standing on the ivory towers of excellence hesitating for a handshake!

Thirdly, education managers either at the policy levels or those at the organizational management level need to be a little more open to newer thinking breaking the shackles of encompassed wisdom so as to be relevant to the global dynamics. While I strongly advocate for holding to the base of traditional cultural canvas, it is equally important to be a meaningful partner so that one could slowly raise for a global leadership.

Fourthly, our assessment systems should move towards tapping the best of the talent in each individual rather than scaling up everyone to a pass grade. Differentiated modes of assessment that would reflect the core competency and skills of each learner has to be identified nurtured and nourished.  While some efforts have been done by entrepreneurs, I think there is scope for more mature products.

Lastly,  there has been not adequate focus on teacher empowerment through technology based self-learning modules both for the lower and the higher education institutions. With a huge human resource that need to be continuously trained and empowered, there is quite a scope for such products and the entrepreneurs would do well to address this area which would assure them of a reasonably long business opportunity provided that products and the inputs are impactful.

Education sector has scope for investment and business opportunities for a few billion dollars in India provided we address to some core issues and bring about some changes in our delivery systems.