Chennai: Online opportunity in higher education has an opportunity to grow 10-fold by FY25, benefitting from tailwinds caused by Covid-19 and regulatory developments, including the new education policy.
Online higher education space can become a $5 billion market by then, finds RedSeer Consulting.
Post- Covid, Indian institutions will be allowed to offer up to 40 per cent of their coursework online, up from 20 per cent earlier. Unbundling of courses and democratization of access will boost demand for online education.
Moreover, the economic uncertainty will increase the need for continuous learning. While several skills will get redundant, high unemployment and an increasing skills gap will bring in a new urgency to the need for continuous learning in order to stay relevant in the job market.
Mismatch between industry requirements and education curriculum in colleges also will see online education bridging the gap.
Meanwhile, the government has set an ambitious target to double the enrolment in higher education to 50 per cent under National Education Policy 2020. The National Education Policy 2020 wants to increase Gross Enrollment Ratio from 40 million to 92 million by FY35.
Online offerings will play a critical role in enabling supply, innovation and democratising access to education.
The overall online higher education market will benefit from the new reforms, including the increase in public spending. The recent regulatory developments mark a major shift in higher education and will enable accelerated growth in Indian online higher education.
The top 100 universities are permitted to offer online degree courses and ed-tech platforms can now partner with universities to offer online degrees against diplomas earlier.
Top Indian institutes are encouraged to build/advance their global presence and vice versa. Better exposure to foreign universities will be enabled by integration with online platforms.
“The new education policy is creating a system of knowledge that is well-rounded and versatile. Students who learn under this new pedagogy will be ready to face the challenges presented by an increasingly complex world. Technology will play a very important role in this new phase of Indian education," said Vipul Sobti, Business Head, Unthinkable Solutions. ends
