Learning Starts Early

The growth of urbanization has been a blessing for many sectors in India. The pre-school market has been one such sector now expected to grow at a CAGR of over 20 per cent during 2016-2020, according to Research and Markets’ report. It is even expected to reach Rs 165 billion by 2018.

Growth via Franchising

As stated by Debshankar Mukhopadhyay, CEO, Zee Learn, almost 300-400 Kidzee centers get operational every year, and most of these centers are run by women. “The franchising model has proved to be a successful expansion route for Kidzee. We believe that the interventions in the education need to be community led. This belief made us choose franchising as one of the ways of spreading our vision,” says Mukhopadhyay.

“Franchising allows us to spread our vision of education further than we could have if we were to invest in the entire infrastructure ourselves,” adds Lina Ashar, Chairperson, Kangaroo Kids Education.

Taking the Lead

As the competition in the pre-school industry gets competitive and brands taking the business seriously, international curriculum and the entry of international names is making a difference in this sector. Meanwhile, technology and e-learning are the factors that are driving the growth of pre-schools.

“Keeping in mind today’s generation, our curriculum demands for an interactive room, wherein the kids come and explore through computers, especially designed software by our teams, etc,” says Anu Gupta, Director, Little Leaders Play School.

EuroKids, which has created an empire of over 900 pre-schools, makes use of technology in more than one way and keeps its digital game up. They have Buddy App, which keeps parents updated about activities, learning, celebrations and important days at the school. Besides that, Eurokids also has an online teacher assessment and training programme to enhance the abilities of teachers on a regular basis.

Future Ahead

The pre-school market in India is majorly unorganized due to lack of regulations. However, major pre-school players are hoping high. “The brands have already proven their mark to the world, now if the government is thinking of bringing this industry under regulatory guidelines, we personally see that early education industry will see a growth of more than 30 per cent yoy from where it is now,” says Gupta of Little Leaders.

Meanwhile, as the Indian parent becomes more conscious about choosing a pre-school for their child, the market is bound to become innovative and competitive. As Prajodh Rajan, Co-founder and CEO, EuroKids, puts it, “Gone are the days when a parent would enroll their child in merely the closest pre-school or the most popular pre-school in the neighbourhood. Today, parents are far more discerning and recognize that going to a reputed and well-structured pre-school is important.”

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