Introduction
India holds an important place in the global education industry. India has one of the largest networks of higher
education institutions in the world. However, there is still a lot of potential for further development in the
education system.
Moreover, the aim of the Government to raise its current gross enrolment ratio to 30 per cent by 2020 will also
boost the growth of distance education in India.
Market Size
India has the world’s largest population of about 500 million in the age bracket of 5-24 years, which provides a
great opportunity for the education sector. The education sector in India was estimated at US$ 91.7 billion in FY18
and is expected to reach US$ 101.1 billion in FY19.
Number of colleges and universities in India reached 39,931 and 993, respectively, in FY19. India had 37.4 million
students enrolled in higher education in FY19. Gross Enrolment Ratio in higher education reached 26.3 per cent in
FY19.
The country has become the second largest market for E-learning after the US. The sector is expected to reach US$
1.96 billion by 2021 with around 9.5 million users.
Investments/ Recent Developments
The total amount of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflow into the education sector in India stood at US$ 3.24
billion from April 2000 to March 2020 according to the data released by Department for Promotion of Industry and
Internal Trade (DPIIT).
The education and training sector in India witnessed some major investments and developments in the recent
past. Some of them are:
In January 2020, Harappa Education raised an undisclosed amount from James Murdoch-led Lupa Systems in a funding round.
In February 2020, Unacademy raised US$ 110 million in Series E round from Facebook and General Atlantic.
In March 2020, EdTech platform Univariety raised US$ 1.1 million from Info Edge.
In April 2020, Class Central (a free online course aka Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) aggregator from top universities like Stanford, MIT, Harvard, etc.) released the list of
30 best online courses of 2019, out of which, six courses were from SWAYAM.
In May 2020, a new mobile app called ‘National Test Abhyas’ was launched to enable candidates to take mock tests for upcoming exams such as JEE Main and NEET under NTA’s
purview.
In May 2020, Classplus, a business-to-business (B2B) EdTech start-up, raised US$ 9 million in Series A funding round led by early stage tech investor RTP Global.
In August 2019, Maharashtra International Education Board (MIEB) signed a collaboration agreement with Google for Education in India.
In October 2019, IIT Madras reached agreement with ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Company (EMRE) for research on Energy and Biofuels.
Government Initiatives
Some of the other major initiatives taken by the Government are:
In May 2020, Government launched PM eVIDYA, a programme for multi-mode access to digital/online education. Other initiatives to be launched
include Manodarpan, New National Curriculum and Pedagogical framework, National Foundational Literacy and Numeracy Mission.
According to Union Budget 2020-21, Government allocated Rs 59,845 crore (US$ 8.56 billion) for Department of School Education and Literacy.
Revitalising Infrastructure and Systems in Education (RISE) by 2022 was announced in Union Budget 2020-21 with a proposed outlay of Rs 3,000 crore
(US$ 429.55 million).
Under Union Budget 2020-21, Government proposed apprenticeship embedded degree/diploma courses by March 2021 in about 150 higher
educational institutions.
As on February 2020, 254,897 training centers were registered in India and around 2 crore candidates completed training under the Pradhan Mantri
Gramin Digital Saksharta Abhiyan (PMGDISHA).
Government promoted new scheme ‘Study in India’ to bring foreign students to higher educational institutions.
In order to boost the Skill India Mission, two new schemes, Skills Acquisition and Knowledge Awareness for Livelihood Promotion (SANKALP) and Skill
Strengthening for Industrial Value Enhancement (STRIVE), have been approved by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), Government of
India, with an outlay of Rs 6,655 crore (US$ 1.02 billion) and will be supported by the World Bank.
The Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat (EBSB) campaign is undertaken by the Ministry of Human Resource Development to increase engagement between
states, union territories, central ministries, educational institutions and general public.
Government Achievements
Following are the achievements of the Government
In private equity (PE) and venture capital (VC) funding, companies in the education sector attracted US$ 500 million by end of 2019.
In February 2020, Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with New Zealand universities to establish a New Zealand
Centre at the institute with an investment of US$ 50,000 each from both parties.
Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) introduced artificial intelligence as a subject in class ninth from the session 2019-20.
In August 2019, Maharashtra International Education Board (MIEB) signed a collaboration agreement with Google for Education in India.
Under the mid-day meal scheme initiated by the Government of India, about 95 million students of around 1.14 million schools enjoy fresh meal every day.
Road Ahead
In 2030, it is estimated that India’s higher education will:
combine training methods that involve online learning and games, and is expected to grow 38 per cent in the next 2-4 years
adopt transformative and innovative approaches in Higher education
have an augmented Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) of 50 per cent
reduce state-wise, gender based and social disparity in GER to 5 per cent
emerge as the single largest provider of global talent with one in four graduates in the world being a product of the Indian higher education system
be among the top five countries in the world in terms of research output with an annual R&D spend of US$ 140 billion
have more than 20 universities among the global top 200 universities
Various Government initiatives are being adopted to boost the growth of distance education market besides
focusing on new education techniques, such as E-learning and M-learning.
Education sector has seen a host of reform and improved financial outlays in recent years that could possibly
transform the country into a knowledge haven. With human resource increasingly gaining significance in the
overall development of the country, development of education infrastructure is expected to remain the key focus
in the current decade. In this scenario, infrastructure investment in the education sector is likely to see a
considerable increase in the current decade
The Government of India has taken several steps including opening of IIT’s and IIM’s in new locations as well as
allocating educational grant for research scholars in most Government institutions. Furthermore, with online mode
of education being used by several educational organisations, the higher education sector in India is set for major
change and development in the years to come.
