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Indian teacher Pooja Prashant Sankhe writes on the board next to a teaching virtual assistant mannequin. Photo: AFP

‘Edtech’ boom changes how Indian kids learn – if they can afford it

  • Major foreign investors are ploughing funds into India’s growing ‘edtech’ industry as they seek to capitalise on the world’s largest school-age population
India

From a multibillion-dollar education start-up to wired-up mannequins, technology is helping to revolutionise the way Indian schoolchildren are learning – provided their parents can afford it.

A host of online platforms are taking advantage of a surge in smartphone ownership to engage millions of youngsters with interactive games and animated video lessons.

India’s education system suffers from a lack of investment, and the apps aid students who want extra tuition away from overcrowded classrooms and crumbling schools.

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Major foreign investors are ploughing funds into India’s growing “edtech” industry as they seek to capitalise on the world’s largest school-age population who face fierce competition for university places.

“I have been using Byju’s since last year and my performance has really improved. I understand mathematical concepts much better now,” says 16-year-old Akshat Mugad referring to a Facebook-backed, Indian education app.

Byju’s has become one of the world’s largest online learning sites since it was founded in Bangalore in 2011 and is currently embarking on an ambitious overseas expansion. It is just one of dozens of start-ups betting that kids are eager to learn differently from rote memorisation techniques.

Students meditate as a teaching virtual assistant mannequin fitted with Amazon's “Alexa”. Photo: AFP

Edtech platforms are also taking off in other Asian countries, notably China.

“We wanted to make education fun,” said Manish Dhooper, the founder of New Delhi-based Planet Spark, which uses “gamified” teaching methods.

Garima Dhir enrolled her six-year-old boy into a Planet Spark programme to study maths and English because she wanted him to get used to using technology while young.

“With interactive classes, my son is picking concepts without any stress and enjoying the process without fear of failure,” she said.

Robomate, Toppr, Simplilearn, Meritnation and Edureka are others in the market.

India has an estimated 270 million children aged between five and 17.

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Its online education sector is projected to be worth US$2 billion to Asia’s third-largest economy by 2021, according to research published by KPMG two years ago.

With revenues heading for US$200 million, Byju’s says around 32 million people in India are using its e-tutorials that feature animations, live classes and educational games to match India’s school curriculum.

It has raised more than US$1 billion in funding since the beginning of last year, including from Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, valuing the firm at around US$5.4 billion.

“We want to be the largest education company in the world,” said founder Byju Raveendran, 39, whose stake in Byju’s is now thought to be worth almost US$2 billion.

Byju Raveendran, founder of Byju’s, at the company’s offices in Bangalore. Photo: AFP

Analysts say technology has the power to transform education in India but note that at the moment it is largely the domain of middle-class families.

A year-long subscription to Byju’s can cost more than US$150 for example – a small fortune for most Indians.

At a state-run school in Mumbai teacher Pooja Prashant Sankhe is using technology in a different way to change how her pupils interact in lessons.

The 45-year-old hides an Amazon Echo device in a mannequin. Children then ask questions such as: “How many states are there in India?”

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They also do sums and ask the mannequin for the answer to find out whether they had done them correctly. The device plays the Indian national anthem at the start of the school day and ambient music during meditation sessions.

Indian media have reported a teacher doing the same thing in another school in rural Maharashtra state, of which Mumbai is the capital.

“The kids get really excited when they ask her questions,” said Sankhe, 45. “Pupils are coming to school more regularly now,” she added.

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: tech b o om changing h ow children learn
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