Vocational education, a valuable vocation

According to the 12th Five Year Plan, only 10 per cent of the Indian workforce has formal skill training in the form of higher education, technical education or vocational training. Adhering to the acute shortage of skilled workforce, it is estimated that vocational education will reach US $ 20-22 billion by 2020. The vocational training market in India is estimated to be growing at 25 per cent per annum. A franchisor can expect margins anywhere between 16-20 per cent depending upon the geography, target segment, course duration and resources allocated. Read on to know about experts take on the luring business opportunities in this sector.

Widening the horizon

The brands have set out massive expansion plans. Jetking Infotrain Limited is looking forward to launch 25 new centres in the next financial year. It is keen to expand its footprints in the territories of U.P, Delhi NCR, Karnataka and Maharashtra. AISECT currently has 12,000 centres and plans to double up the centres in the next three years. All these centres will be franchisee-run. Naveen Gupta, Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer, Frameboxx Animation & Visual Effects says, “The current plan is to add 8-10 outlets, the major focus areas being the Eastern and Southern cities of India. The major cities of East that we want to add to our network are Ranchi, Jamshedpur, Kolkata, Dhanbad, Guwahati and in South we are looking at cities like Hyderabad, Mangalore, Mysore, Calicut, Trivandrum and Madurai. Besides training facilities, we are also working towards getting a lot of courses online through a brand new vertical. The online education industry in India is growing strongly. As per estimates, the online training industry is expected to touch US$ 40 billion by 2017.” VLCC is planning to set up another 20 institutes in FY 2015-16. Aptech through its retail brands is present across 60 Indian towns and cities through over 800 franchise locations. Anuj Kacker, Executive Director, Aptech Ltd says, “Aptech believes in an asset light model and has spread across geographies through the franchise model. The next surge of expansion too aims at the franchise route in unrepresented or less represented areas.”

Challenges to meet

There remains a dearth of quality trainers in this industry. Vandana Luthra, Founder, VLCC Group says, "Another huge obstacle is the mindset issue that vocational education and training is only intended for those who could not make it in the formal education system." Difficulty in affiliation of training centres in far flung and rural areas is another major challenge. However if rigorous efforts are employed to provide quality education, these can be overcome.

Franchise facts:

Vocational education to reach US$ 20-22 billion by 2020.

Vocational training market growing at 25% per annum.

Margins between 16-20% for franchisors.

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