The 'Indian Education Market'; How Big is it for Budding Entrepreneurs?

According to a report by Economic Times, “With double digit economic growth demanding a sustained supply of knowledge workers, India has emerged as one of the world's largest consumer of education services with a target population of more than 445 million (between age group of 5-24 years), which is expected to increase to approximately 486 million by 2025, far exceeding the combined target population in China (354 million) and the US (91 million) in the same year.”

It is estimated that there will be around 40 million students pursuing higher education in India by 2020. There would be a need to open thousand universities and forty five thousand colleges in the next decade to cater to this need. The expansion of this scale can be achieved by more activate participation from the private sector. This means the sector will also see a lot of investment activity over the next few years. Private entrepreneurs encompass a wide range of educational organizations such as educational services businesses, for-profit institutes, religious and not-for profit institutes, etc.

There is also a necessity for increase in number of Public Private Partnership models, especially in a low income and a developing economy as India's because these partnerships have a lot of potential for expanding the access of education and providing a level playing field for the distribution of knowledge.

All of these initiatives required to meet the increased demand will also need to leverage technology to maintain quality and increase their scale of operations.

In a nutshell, the Indian education system has a lot of scope for innovation and growth. Entrepreneurs should explore the sector as there is a wide scope for a lot of opportunities and challenges. Do check out the 2012 EduStars Survey Report for a great perspective on opportunities in the education sector. However, if you decide to work in the education sector, do realize that when it comes to delivering education, personal gains must be balanced with the ultimate objective of meeting the learning objectives of the students.

Ishan Gupta is the CEO of EduKart.com – one of India’s leading online education company. They deliver degree courses like MBA, MCA, BBA, BCA and short industry endorsed certificate courses in areas of Digital Marketing, Finance, Retail and Programming Languages.