Kolkata: Ascon Infrastructure (India), a Kolkata headquartered leading realty player is now gearing up to tap the fast growing K-12 education industry space, which, at present, is estimated to be Rs 165,500 crore and is expected to grow to Rs 240,000 crore over the next three years. The company is well set to put up the first in a chain of international schools at Rajarhat, near Kolkata. Christened as Ascon International School, the group’s foray into education sector will be marked by international level facilities and new age education system, said Laxman Jaiswal, chairman & managing director, Ascon Infrastructure. Going forward, Ascon Infrastructure’s education venture has plans to get into higher education, especially B.Ed (bachelor of eduction) stream, he said.
“Private spend is estimated to account for nearly 90 per cent of the total K-12 market size in FY17, which can be attributed to consistent shift towards private schools in India. The entry of corporate and the growing number of institutes under an umbrella brand have revolutionized the concept of K–12 in India. With schools being required to run on ‘not for profit’ motive, the corporates have adopted a two-tier structure, wherein a trust is created to run the school with the company’s subsidiary/management company being the primary revenue earner for the services rendered to the school such as consulting, teacher training etc,” said Jaiswal.
The first Ascon International School is being built over a total area of 157 cottah land and will be affiliated to the ICSE Board modern educational technology which has gained importance in the Indian Education System following K-12 model covering primary and secondary education. The target population for this segment is from the age group of 3-17 years. The company has lined up plans to hire educationists of national and international experience with convent education background, he said.
