November 10, 2022
Over the past few years, we've seen numerous edtech companies rise (and fall). Some of them are VC funded, some have angel investors backing them, and some are bootstrapped.
Now, at some point, I think all of us have complained about the drawbacks of the Education system. I remember when I was in school, we had the same issues. When I was in college, I experienced the same issues. And, now, as an edtech founder, I see that the fundamental issues have not changed.
Today, edtech (at least in India) is serving as a proxy for the current educational system. Technology in India’s educational system is acting more as an alternative delivery mechanism while the process and system of education remain traditional.
In order to create a great edtech startup, I believe these are the 5 challenges you should keep in mind:
1. Catering to 1.3 billion learners: India is one of the biggest markets for edtech, with a whopping size of 1.3 billion learners. Today, even government resources are unable to face this challenge. You need to create a product/service that can cater to such a huge population
2. Quality of teaching - impure from source: One of the biggest problems of our current system is the lack of quality teaching. If a student is taught incorrectly by the teacher, the student is going to keep repeating the mistake his whole life. Whether offline or online, we need a way through which students can learn directly from the source. Who would you rather learn from: the author of a world-renowned academic book, or an instructor who has just read the same book and is just conveying the same message to you?
3. 21st-century skills: Let's be honest. Our system is unable to teach us skills that are required today. What about the skills required 15 years from now? If a child joins a school today (1st grade), he is going to leave the education system (with a college degree) 15-16 years from now. We need an edtech startup that can help these students prepare for the future. We keep hearing that AI and automation are the future, and most jobs are going to be redundant soon. We need a startup that can inform the educate in mass.
4. Re-skilling of senior citizens: We keep talking about the youth. But, what about the aged? Tomorrow, the working population is going to age. And, if they are unable to reskill, then they might become a liability. Not to mention, if an aged person is unable to be productive and help the community, they might suffer emotionally. We need a system that can help the aged to keep reskilling and contribute to society.
5. Reshaping the university system: While other edtech founders talk about how colleges are irrelevant to society, and how degrees don't matter, I personally believe that now - more than ever - the university is extremely necessary for a healthy society. However, we need to reshape the university system. It does not matter how many great resources are available on the internet if the student is still sticking to the old college curriculum. We need an edtech startup that can help reshape universities, instead of getting rid of them. To start with: let's spread more awareness about MOOCs and online resources in colleges. We need to influence teachers to combine online resources with their own teaching. I believe one of the reasons why colleges are not open to MOOCs or other resources, is because college teachers have a fear that edtech will replace colleges. That is not the case. COVID-19 taught us that lesson clearly.
These are big problems. And, yes, the returns on tackling these issues are going to be slow. But, if you create a startup that successfully tackles these problems, I believe your company has the potential of succeeding globally.
