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Education Sector Holds Huge Promise
By Dhaval Valia
 It’s a no-brainer that the education sector in India will be the fastest growing sector over the next 10 years. The Centre’s ambitious Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan under the Rights to Education Bill, and an announcement by the HRD ministry that it is opening up the education sector to the foreign institutes is propelling the boom and IT demand.
Let us take a look at the investments plans announced. In the last Union budget, the Indian government allocated `31,036 crore for primary education alone. The allocation to the education sector has increased by 16 percent in the current fiscal. Apart from these, both the state governments and the Center have earmarked `50,000 crore to be invested directly or indirectly in UGCE and other similar schemes.
Ever since the Center relaxed the rules for foreign participation in the education sector, the government has received more than 300 applications from foreign institutions either for direct investment or for partnerships with Indian institutes.
Not to be left behind, India Inc is also making large investments in education. For instance, the Azim Premji Foundation has announced $1 billion in education. The Vedanta Group has earmarked `500 crore for education including setting up of 3,000 Anganwadis in the rural Orissa and West Bengal.
These investments coupled with technology at the core will revolutionize the entire education sector. Take the case of the Maharashtra State government, which is setting up biometric attendance systems at 33,000 government aided schools to address the issue of poor attendance and mismanagement of the mid-day meal scheme, at a cost of `102 crore.
The entry of foreign schools and universities will raise the technology bar among the private Indian educational institutes. Already, many schools, having collaboration with international institutes, are investing in advanced solutions such as digital classrooms. A few of them are investing in collaboration platforms to connect students across their own schools in the country and their international affiliates.
Most partners today are only leveraging the traditional IT opportunities in the education sector like providing PCs, IT infrastructure and services. While that pie will continue to grow, bigger opportunities may lie in providing emerging solutions; but this would require a focused approach on the education sector.
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