The changing landscape of the education sector in India

Education Employability and Entrepreneurship

18 Apr 2024

In the following section, we will delve into the two major topics of discussion in the education sector:

> The recent government initiatives and reforms

> Partnerships and collaborations in the education sector

The Ministry of Education (MoE) has demonstrated its commitment by raising the budget allocation from INR 993B in 2020-21 to INR 1,129B in 2023-24, marking a 13.68% increase
With the G20 trending, Education Working Group meeting was organized by the Ministry of Education emphasizing on four key themes:
- Foundational Literacy and Numeracy
- Inclusive Tech-Enabled Learning
- Promoting Lifelong Learning in context of future of work
- Research and Innovation
The National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 proposes the revision and revamping of various aspects of the education structure with one of the pivotal aspects of it being the increased investment in education, aspiring for the Central Government and State Governments to allocate 6% of the GDP towards education
The University Grants Commission (UGC), aligning with NEP 2020, mandated internships for undergraduate students across various degree programs in October, categorizing them into employability enhancement and research aptitude development
The following shows the major tasks under NEP 2020 which outlines the progress and the key updates of the initiative:

Singapore-based Indian-origin Global Schools Foundation (GSF) has announced plans to invest over US$ 550M in India's school education sector by 2026 by increasing its campus base.
Under UGC regulations, foreign universities can operate physical campuses in India. For example, two Australian universities will soon establish campuses in Gujarat's GIFT City.
The Ministry of Education is partnering with Oracle to modernize and scale India's free EdTech platform, DIKSHA, which aims to broaden access to educational resources for Indian students and instructors.
Indian and foreign universities collaborate to offer twinning, joint, and dual degree programs, enhancing the presence of foreign faculty in Indian institutions. Currently, 230 Indian and 1,256 foreign HEIs can offer these programs.
A MoU has been signed between the Ministry of Education and Abu Dhabi Department of Education and Knowledge, to establish the 1st campus of the top institute of India in Abu Dhabi.
Lok Sabha passed the Central Universities (Amendment) Bill, paving the way for the 'Sammakka Sarakka Central Tribal University' in Telangana, focusing on advanced education and research in tribal art, culture, customs, and technology.
Finland's Education Minister, Anna-Maja Henriksson, visited India to explore collaboration in addressing skills shortages and promoting cross-sectoral initiatives, focusing on schemes to meet the rising demand for skilled workers in Finland.

A national-level school chain was considering expansion across 10 micro-markets in leading Indian cities and wanted to identify:
- Board, fees, and other offerings for the proposed school in those locations
- Demand estimation and enrolment aspirations
- Communication hooks, marketing plan and spend optimization to maximize enrolment
They also wanted assistance in setting up aspirations for year 1 enrolment (across grades being launched) in each of the 10 micro-markets

For devising GTM strategy and marketing spend

Conducted in-depth conversations and surveys with parents in each micro-market to understand parent preferences, brand recall, test school offerings & marketing concepts
Conducted mystery calls in schools to benchmark fees, grade-wise supply, enrolments, growth, and offerings.
Conducted IDIs with principals to understand marketing techniques and activity for increasing enrolments
Performed secondary research (RERA data, Census data, Election Commission data) to calculate demand and triangulate demand-supply mismatch
Performed social media and EdTech sales benchmarking to analyze the presence, engagement, and effectiveness of leading K-12 players' activities, identifying best practices
Conducted historical data analysis & secondary research to identify marketing spending, effectiveness, provisions, laws, and costs across various channels
Conducted expert conversations and competitor interviews to understand spending patterns and changes due to COVID-19 for marketing budgets in leading school

For the Year 1 aspiration setting

Developed a demand sizing model using census data, secondary research, and web scrape data for each micro-market.
Estimated the supply side via school mystery calls in top schools of each micro-market to benchmark fees, supply, occupancy, and offerings
Estimated projections for 2025 factoring in the increase in demand via new real estate constructions and upcoming schools in the region

Provided client with insights on customer value proposition and competition behaviour and communication and location-wise aspirations
Devised a go-to-market strategy with the calendar of events and suggested optimal channel-wise spending to increase student enrolments
Provided client with a scenario-wise spend budget and channel prioritization to maximize ROI and enrolments on marketing spend
Provided client with insights on demand-supply mismatch and year 1 enrolment aspirations for each location