Posted by Ninad on May 10, 2010 under All Posts | 
Here are some statistics from IDFC-SSKI research report on Indian Education (2009).
- Government spends $ 30 billion on education every year
- Citizens spend additionally $ 50 billion on private education
- K-12 segment is worth $ 20 billion
So, do you want to start a school in India?
A school is a capital intensive business. In a city like Delhi or Mumbai, setting up a school for 1000 children on a 2 acre plot could cost anywhere between Rs. 15-20 crores.
In India, schools can be owned only by a not-for-profit trust or society or government.
Government has over 1 million schools and effectively runs the largest number of schools in the country.
There are a total of 75,000 private schools in India. Only a handful like the Delhi Public School (DPS) has more than 100 locations.
Given these intricacies, how are education entrepreneurs setting up schools?
They simply set up two legal structures. A company owns all the assets of the school and leases it to the trust for a fee. The trust runs the school and books all the expenses.
There are a plethora of new schools which have come up especially in the B and C class cities, where the cost dynamics are more favourable.
Given the big demand for good quality school education, new schools with spiffy facilities are bound to come up with this dual legal structure. Ultimately, this will mean a better choice to parents and their kids.�
Posted by Ninad on May 3, 2010 under All Posts |
Currently, around 14 million students attend college. However, given the robust annual growth of GDP of more than 9 per cent, it is estimated that India will need to send 22 million students to college in the year 2014.
Mr. Kapil Sibal, Union Minister for HRD has mentioned that he wants to send 30 per cent of India’s college-going-age kids to college. This would mean 30 million more students going to colleges.
India presently has around 350 universities and the National Knowledge Commission has stated that India needs around 1,500 universities.
In 2008, it is estimated that India had around 340 million people in the age group of 25-50 year olds who did not have a college degree. This is expected to rise to 380 million by the year 2014.
Setting up a good quality university is highly capital intensive and time consuming. Although foreign universities are likely to be allowed to come to India; at best, they will meet a fraction of this demand.
So, what is the future of those students who seek a good quality college degree and are unable to get it?
The yawning gap between demand and supply will ensure that aspirants for prestigious institutions like IIT and IIM will be on the rise for many years to come.
If this huge gap is to be met, shouldn’t the government look at changing its model and allowing for-profit institutions in the education sector?
Posted by Ninad on July 27, 2009 under All Posts |
The education sector has received a lot of focus and new schools and colleges are being planned every day. Buildings are being built with good quality classrooms, laboratories and other facilities. But, where are the teachers?
If there is one profession in India which will face an acute shortage, it is this – the teaching profession. About 22 lakh new school teachers are required in the next 3 years. Where will they come from?
Just look at the some of the damning statistics:
- Engineering colleges face a shortage of nearly 30 per cent of teachers
- Nearly 1/5th of the total primary schools are single teacher schools. Only one teacher per school!
- Teacher absence ratio in primary schools ranges from 15 to 40 per cent.
- Kerala has an average of 6 teachers in a primary school. In Jharkhand it is less than 2 and 500 schools in U.P. do not have a single teacher.
Teacher shortage is really a symptom of a larger problem which has not been addressed for a long time. Salaries for teachers have remained stagnant for a long time. In fact, salaries offered by industry and particularly the IT industry have skyrocketed in the past few years.
In a unique solution to the persistent problem of faculty crunch, the batch of 1982 of the Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay (IIT-B) on Monday presented a ‘Legacy Gift’ of Rs 3 lakh to each of the faculty members who recently joined IIT-B. This can be done only by a limited number of institutions.
So, are there any possible solutions to this problem? If you have any thoughts, write in…
Posted by Ninad on July 6, 2009 under All Posts |
Infrastructure industries normally cover ports, roads, bridges, etc. Some of the characteristics of an infrastructure industry are – large upfront investment, long gestation period and long term benefits.
Investment in an Educational institution has similar traits. It requires upfront investment in a property and added facilities as well; returns take a long time and benefits to society range over a long run stretch too.
In the past few months, there has been a lot of debate and discussion over the education sector. The Education Minister, Kapil Sibal, has announced some bold measures in his 100 day plan and the Yash Pal Committee Report has been submitted.
I have been following these developments with close interest. For very long, our governments have been in a “denial” mode. They have refused to acknowledge that there is a massive problem in the Education sector and it needs to be addressed. Well, this seems to have really changed.
Investment in the education sector is really investment in soft infrastructure. It builds and nurtures the minds of the young. It is really an investment in India’s future. Shouldn’t it get the sops and incentives available to other infrastructure industries.
Shouldn’t Education be declared an Infrastructure industry?
