Dr. Varun Gupta, an Educationist and Entrepreneur, poised to leverage educational qualification and experience towards steering a successful career as an Educator and Entrepreneur with higher learning institutions has offered immensely to the world of Education and Trade sector alike. Currently, he is the Executive Vice President at On Sky Global and Chief Operating Officer, a USA and UK based institution respectively, engaged in imparting skill-based job-ready career programs in various capacities. Dr. Varun Gupta has touched upon the lives of more than 2,00,000 people and has traveled to more than 50 countries to spread the light of leadership, motivation, and guidance under the umbrella of education, skills training, public administration good governance, etc. by placing oneself as a renowned edupreneur in India.
The COVID-19 pandemic has turned everything upside-down, but to many sectors; the arrival of the black swan was a bit auspicious. Education is one of those few industries which have consolidated themselves quite effectively against the crisis. The industry smartly improvised the conditions for an adept and agile digital transformation. In 2021 too, stakeholders will experience massive technological advancements that will further reduce learning barriers and help institutions in extending their reach.
Blessing in disguise
If necessity is the mother of invention, then a crisis is the father of disruption. Flanked by the two catalysts, the education industry has brought some of the most innovative solutions in this challenging time. Homes got transformed into schools, desktops into classrooms, and teachers into smart teachers using digital infrastructure and value-added services. When social distancing is the need of the hour, neither the education fraternity nor learners are compelled to compromise with their objectives. Equipped with the ed-tech arsenal that comprises apps, software, smart devices and video conferencing tools, the education industry of India is experiencing a great makeover.
Learning unstoppable
With more than 300 million students, 1.5 million schools, 39,931 colleges, and 993 universities, India has a huge educational ecosystem. Also, India is the second largest e-learning market after the US. In 2021, most of the schools and colleges in urban areas are expected to make significant changes in their pedagogy to complement virtual learning tools. Macroeconomic changes and easy accessibility of AI-embedded platforms is further expediting the transition. Now, beyond all earlier expectations, the Indian ed-tech market is going to reach USD 3.5 billion by 2022, as per NASSCOM’s forecast. Not only students of schools and colleges, professionals and university students are also adapting to online learning for study, up-skilling, research projects, and hobby classes. Technology enables them to keep learning alive in a more engaging and interactive manner.
Education on cloud 9
Cloud technology which has already redefined the e-commerce, logistics, and healthcare sectors, is now playing a pivotal role in virtual learning. The integration of education and cloud technology has immensely simplified the management and administration of the resources. From content sharing to attendance record, the majority of academic and administrative tasks can be optimally managed using cloud technology. Ergo teachers have more quality time to invest in their students rather than spending hours on maintaining registers and preparing reports. With the advent of smart cloud-based platforms, an array of academic services can be performed in real-time.
Binge on blended
Though the current surge in ed-tech is mainly attributed to the pandemic, the industry will maintain an upward growth in the post-Covid era, too. The normalcy which expected to resume by the end of 2021 will not impede the growth of e-learning in India. Ongoing trends and development suggest that blended learning is the evident future of Indian education system. A right mix of digital and traditional learning methods is expected to create synergy in the education system and more people will benefit from the blended learning techniques. Apart from this, a shortage of trained teachers which is a perennial problem in the country could also be resolved through AI-supported teaching methodologies.
Sky is the limit
A few months back, Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) inducted a new subject “Artificial Intelligence” in the curriculum of class nine. In the future, more emphasis will be given to training modules based on gaming and machine learning technologies. The government of India is also planning to spend US$ 140 billion in this sector for research and developmental activities and they want to position the country among the world’s top five countries. Favourable investment policies such as 100 per cent FDI through automatic route will further accelerate the growth of the education industry in the coming years.