Edtechs: For Whom!!

In 2021, Edtechs started on a high, garnering $ 6Bn funding. According to some reports, there are 9043 edtech startups in India alone, largely competing for the K12 segment. The party seems to have slowed down in 2022 once the schools opened. The funding dried up,  valuations plunged, and enrolments dropped resulting in mass layoffs (6000 laid off and as per experts, they may lay off another 60,000). 

The fundamental question that arises is who was the target audience!! School Management, Teachers, Students, Parents or  ... the answer is not very simple. The internet is full of stories from lack of a viable sustainable business plan; a near non-existent market survey; key target audience ie teachers and students ignored; mindless scaleup; expenditure on non-essentials; lack of understanding of the education sector; value vs valuation, and many more such like issues.

Education is a serious business, specially in a country as diverse as India. It is a long haul. Moreover, the conventional education sector is not for profit as against the Edtechs which are designed to be profitable. Many Edtech companies, despite raising over $100 + Mn are struggling to find a way to sustain between the number of users or more paying customers, still trying to define and refine the model that may work. Some have gone back to physical tuition centers by investing huge sums of money. Some resorted to unethical practices, forcing the Govt to issue a public advisory against the Edtechs.

It seems some of the lessons learned from the sudden shift from conventional classes to online classes due to the pandemic were not analyzed. The challenges faced by the teachers and students were unique. A sample survey done in the tech-savvy Bangalore City among the College and University teachers and students revealed that although the majority found online classes more convenient, they, almost completely agreed that online classes were not effective; student-teacher interaction was difficult; engaging with students was difficult; students attention span was reduced; group interaction was difficult; low work satisfaction; reduced seriousness and lack of motivation to continue amongst several other factors. 

The challenges in smaller towns were even greater in terms of limited bandwidth, lack of devices, distractions at home; lack of content in vernacular; power cuts, etc. in addition to the challenges mentioned above.

Can the Edtechs replace conventional educational institutions? Can the Edtechs replace the teachers? Definitely not in the K12 segment. These formative years lay the foundation for the future. Not to mention that the founders and employees of these Edtech companies are themselves products of conventional schooling. 

Can the Edtechs assist the teachers to impart quality content and quality assessments? Can the edtechs widen the student's horizon by enhancing inquisitiveness, and working on collaborative projects? Definitely yes. Each one may have to create a niche for itself and stand above the competition rather than a me-too approach. 

The edtech market still exists. It is just that they need to press the reset button and realign to the core priorities of the educational sector. Focus on learning outcomes, impact on students, and customer satisfaction while staying away from unethical practices to make a quick buck or justify the funding from investors. The obvious restart point is a ground-level market survey, identify the needs/gaps, identify the target segment, select the niche areas, build a realistic business plan with clearly defined revenue streams beyond the basic fee model, continuously monitor the environment and remain flexible to quickly adapt to changes, last but not the least remember that Education is a long haul sector. 

There are lessons in this for the Edtechs in the Skill Development space too!!