Ed-tech platforms that allow a holistic learning experience will see success as more companies accept such certifications. Job opportunities will come to those who will leverage these routes, says

The pace at which digital education has been accelerating since the last few years now, says a lot about the overall digital transformation of India. This segment evidently gained momentum due to the outbreak of COVID-19 as it provided both conventional and unconventional methods of learning.

The growth projections in this market for the next five years are based on the number of potential users and the internet penetration in India. Industry research reports project an increase in market size for the next five years ranging from $7 billion to $14 billion, where the current market is close to $1-2 billion. This optimism in the projections needs a closer look.

As the country witnessed a prolonged lockdown, traditional learning centres such as schools and colleges took a backseat and ed-tech's role became invaluable in imparting knowledge. Using technology as a facilitator, ed-tech start-ups are accelerating learning in novel and interactive ways. There are over 4,450 ed-tech start-ups in India assisting more than 300 million students and 40 million students pursuing higher education.

From 2014-19, start-ups in this space received funding from venture funds to the tune of $1.6 billion while in 2020 alone, this sector received over $2.2 billion in funds. The COVID-19 clearly put the spotlight on education and ed-tech in the last year.

At this stage it is anybody's guess if the K-12 segment will continue to embrace technology in the post Covid era. The post K-12 segment is where things are getting interesting though. In higher education, classroom lectures have always suffered from low attendance.

College experience in our country is more about building camaraderie and friendships than learning. A common complaint from employers has been that graduates are not ready for the workforce and need to spend time in job reskilling.

A lot of students in colleges are in parallel preparing for competitive exams or career paths. The growing competition and the emergence of several off-beat career opportunities in the past few years has created an urgency for educational institutions to acknowledge the different needs and requirements of today's learners. They are seeking an education that has direct relevance to a job role where the online platforms allow flexibility for them to upskill or reskill.

Education is not about access to content anymore. Neither is it about learning theoretical concepts. Ed-tech platforms that allow a holistic learning experience and peer to peer interactions will see the most success. With more companies open to accept online learning certifications, job opportunities are coming to those who are leveraging these routes of learning.

Online reskilling platforms are making learning easier and convenient by resolving the barriers for people who want to study but do not have the liberty to join a university and take on education full time. Also, with the Government’s National Education Policy 2020, focus on digital education and skill development has provided a positive push in this direction.

Online education in the country will emerge as a crucial bridge to enable students to break the bounds of traditional rote learning methods and enable efficient, personalised, easily accessible, and accountable systems for the best learning experiences. However, it is important to note that India is a country with a huge digital gap and large inequality in quantity and quality of technology and Internet connectivity available to students at home. A lot of work is needed to bridge the digital divide and make education available and easily accessible for students at every level, irrespective of their location, financial background, and Internet and bandwidth connectivity.

Education sector is most likely to witness a sea change in the coming years and till then traditional schooling methods will play an important role in making education available to those who do not have resources to access education virtually. Also, education experts believe that traditional classrooms foster a peer learning environment and enhance social and communication skills in the students.

The writer is founder-CEO, Institute of Nutrition and Fitness Sciences