Kids

Kids

Thursday 22 September 2011

An education business opportunity?

I noticed large ads in the Delhi papers recently, touting the opening of 2 new Shiv Nadar Schools, in Noida and Gurgaon. Yes these are the education hotspots in NCR nowadays. Getting admissions into Delhi schools has become such a nightmare that Delhi parents do not mind (or, to be more precise, they are forced to) enrolling their children in Gurgaon/Noida/Faridabad/Ghaziabad schools, with all the commuting hassles that it entails. I was excited to see this particular ad as I am familiar with the work of the Shiv Nadar Foundation and I mistakenly assumed that they have opened schools for that very underserved section of society which is aware for the need for high-quality education,  cock a snook at government schools, willing to scrimp and save to send their children to private English-medium schools, but sadly have very few options in terms of privately-run education that produces credible results.
Take my maid, for example. All told, she makes about 6000 pm. Her husband makes about the same. Given the fact that they have 3 kids, live in high-rent Gurgaon, and have various family obligations back home in Bihar, their savings are nothing to speak of. Her eldest son, a child of 8, is enrolled in a non-profit programme run in our apartment complex and has been promised admission to DPS under the EWS category. I heard with no small amount of shock last evening that the children admitted in the EWS category are schooled in a separate afternoon shift in the school, because the parents (of the kids under "general" quota) do not like their kids mingling with these other kids from less privileged backgrounds. More about this claim later after it has been duly verified and substantiated and after I know my shock/disgust is justified.
Ok, back to my maid. In an ideal world, the government education machinery would be good enough to accommodate her kids. I personally am against the duplication of any such pre-existing setup and the establishment of a parallel school network. However, we all know we do not live in an ideal world/country and in the meantime, there is an entire generation of kids whose potential and talent is simply being squandered because of the limitations and constraints of the system. So, even taking the step of keeping the social aspects aside for the moment and concentrating only on the profits which could accrue to the greedy capitalist (!), I think here is a terrific market opportunity here. An opportunity for establishing a chain of good, cheap schools which cater to the market segment which is far above the poverty line but cannot afford high-priced private schools. A market segment in between municipal schools and shady private schools on one hand, and the bastions of upper middle-class India on the other. 
Such schools do exist, here and there in isolation. But it needs the deep pockets and the organizational acumen of the likes of corporate foundations to invest in a chain of such schools across India. It can be run as a pure for-profit model. No handouts required. I'm aware there could be huge gaps in my knowledge but as far as I know, there isn't a pan-India (or even aspiring to be pan-India) model of such a nature anywhere. My ex-boss started an affordable housing venture, I hope there are other angel investors like him who are willing to take up the affordable education challenge!

13 comments:

  1. Actually think Jai works in such an education enterprise now - which caters to the segment which is willing to scrimp and pay to send their kids to an English-medium school. As you guessed, apparently there is money to be made in it

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  2. That's a great idea Aparna, I hope something like that could work in our country sometime soon. I see the similar situation as you mention with my maid too. They opt for govt schools because the fees are low, but don't know if the children are getting the education they deserve.
    The example you have given about DPS - if true, I can see that happening more and more to get around the RTE act as otherwise it seems like parents will have reservations (not to mention the teachers reactions) to have children of poorer sections of society studying with the usual crowd !! Have you heard of the Samhita Academy in Bangalore - they have actually implemented a system of educating and housing children from the lower stratas as 20% of their total population! Haven't seen it from up close but the campus is great, and hoping the system works and spreads to more places.

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  3. I remember seeing this ad for an upmarket school in Bombay that basically had a picture of a typical maharashtrian maid (with navari and all) and asked, “ do you want your kids to study with hers?” That’s exactly the kind of place I would be loathe to send my kids to.

    Kendriya Vidyalaya ( where I studied) is pan-India, cheap ( so 10 years ago, I paid 45Rs per month for 11th and 12th and 15Rs per month for middle school. Infact, before that we paid 5Rs per month) and for the most part good. Great facilities and libraries etc, some teachers were not good. But I am guessing that might be the case in any school how much ever you pay.

    I think, most of these issues can be dealt with if we had a participative student and parent population. Most parents either could not or would not participate in school. For instance, my KV was based in a Naval base and most parents were employees of the Navy. These are educated, lower middle class people not so much maid variety. But many of the mothers were educated in the vernacular. So if you call a parent-teacher meet and addressed the parent-body in English, it definitely is an obstacle to parent participation. Imagine your maid in such a situation! We need a system by which parents are involved in what their children are studying- and parent’s education level, I believe, is not so critical to this.

    When parents participate, they will also demand accountability from the school. I do agree with you on not creating parallel systems and strengthening what we already have.

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  4. Just connected with Parentedge through FB, and your post was the latest entry on their page :). Nice going!

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  5. Hey Aparna,
    I m new to ur blog n m truly quite impressed by your writings.

    Well, 'education is business' esp in a country like ours n has become a status symbol for our generation. I often find parents boasting over their child's school, but hardly on their education. Infact, a child is learning his lessons at the coaching institutes n u will find them for all ages...schools are truly money-minting machines n many folks r happily n proudly letting their children grind in them..n, I must say, that this business opportunity is costing too high a price on our innocent school-goers!!

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  6. yes, it would be a terrific idea if corporates start such ventures as a part of their CSR campaign. It could be for-profit as you say and benefit the society at large. Sad, that such issues are ignored by the govt. when this should be its responsibility to ensure such reforms materialize instead of having a RTE on paper.
    On a side note, organizations like Isha yoga at coimbatore (http://www.ishafoundation.org/HomeSchool) have home school that conform to the alternate method of teaching. Wish more such schools open in other cities.

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  7. I question, schools educating 'poor strata' with the 'posh strata', can ever be able to minus the difference in its real sense?

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  8. @Anita: Really? I didn't know that.
    @Aparna: I haven't heard of Samhita academy, I learn new things every day! Thanks :)

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  9. @Swati: Welcome here and Hi! Thanks for your comments and feedback.

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  10. Societal inequality is never ever good for any country. Take the cases of South africa and brazil with the largest gini coefficients in the world, and look at the huge social problems they are having today. Although rising inequality goes hand in hand with growth in many emerging markets, it is the role of the govt to mitigate the effects of such inequality. Partly they can do this by growth itself - pull the entire population upwards. Partly they will need to actively intervene to create a more equitable social fabric. Easier said than done in such a heterogenous country but the consequences of not doing so are mind-boggling.

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  11. Aparna,
    Interesting post and point that you raised. It's sad to see the huge disparities in the education system. This is one area/development aspect where the Govt should play a selfless and progressive role to mitigate the shocking gap.

    While the private sector jumping in, in the education business for the lower middle class may ensure quality. i think the cost to that class of society will still will be something that will make a hole in their pocket. And then, despite the hole, who knows what will be the quality of the education.

    Any which way, people that are 'owning' these businesses have no idea what education should be and can do. It's disgusting to see the 'builders', the businessmen and any tom dick and harry who has the moolah add this as a side-business (read money making machine) to his repertoire.

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  12. Hi rashmie,
    Health is another area where the government has failed. The same maid that I mentioned in my post is now ill with malaria and typhoid and her family is struggling on so many fronts.

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  13. Thank you for sharing such great information. can you help me in finding out more detail on good schools in gurgaon

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I would love to hear your thoughts :)