Interview: Sanjay Viswanathan, Chairman, Ed4All
London-based AdiGroup, which recently forayed into India’s edtech space, is planning to invest around $30 million into its newly launched digital learning platform Ed4All. Sanjay Viswanathan, the chairman of AdiGroup and Ed4All, says Ed4All is the only edtech start-up in India that has chosen to partner solely with governments (central and states) to deliver learning, skilling, testing and job outcomes. In an interview with FE’s Vikram Chaudhary, he adds that India probably has the most paradoxical education ecosystem in the world, where on one hand there are advanced institutions such as IITs, IIMs and the IISc, and on the other a backward and deeply fissured K-12 system. Excerpts:
There are thousands of edtech start-ups in India. How will Ed4All stand out?
Unlike most edtech players that are focused on individual segments of education continuum such as coaching, tuitions, content or certifications, Ed4All views the comprehensive provision of building blocks for hybrid education—from software to hardware to connectivity to operations that also include curriculum, content, teaching and certifications, and capital—as central to rewiring of education in India so that learning and skilling outcomes can be positively impacted. To make learners in smaller towns and rural areas educated, skilled and employable, and at warp-like speed, we will collaborate with governments and Industry. The aim is to pioneer Education 4.0, so that it enables Industry 4.0.
What kind of business opportunities do you see in this segment?
In India, 65% of her people reside in rural areas, where literacy is only 73.5% and even lower amongst women at 65%. For India to become a first world nation, both these metrics must be at 100%. While central and state governments are doing their best to address this, there is a significant potential for edtech firms to accelerate this and enable government in smaller towns and rural areas to deliver high impact learning and skilling at the grassroots. Ed4All is the only player in the market today that is partnering with government at scale to invest in low-cost/high-impact learning, skilling and testing.
In addition to governments, whom all have you partnered with for this initiative?
We have teamed up with tech companies such as Microsoft, Hitachi and Lenovo, as also institutions such as Christ University, British Council, LinkedIn Learning and Pearson. To drive internships, apprenticeships and jobs, we have partnered with India’s oldest trade body, the Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
How will you compare India’s education ecosystem with that of western countries?
India probably has the most paradoxical education ecosystem in the world. On one hand, she has advanced institutions such as IITs, IIMs and the IISc. Combined, they have produced more leaders, inventors and thought leaders than even veneered Harvard or Stanford. On the other hand, India has a backward and deeply fissured K-12 system with schools ill-prepared for 21st century as they are weighed down by antiquated curriculum, poorly-trained educators, commercially-driven institutions, and most of all controlled by politically-motivated vested interests. That this K-12 system produced graduates for IITs, IIMs and the IISc is baffling on the exterior, but is deeply emblematic of the Indian mindset of overcoming great odds to succeed.In contrast, western nations have long realised that education is best delivered homogenously in one of the two models—either government-controlled and administered (such as in the UK, France and Germany) or private-sector controlled and administered (such as the US, Canada and Australia), but not a befuddled blend of both. In both models, the standards are set and audited by the government. With this uniformity, benchmarks and unhinging of political destiny, western nations have made education the springboard of economic prosperity. This is a rubric for India to follow without losing her essence of Indian thought, culture and values that will lie at the heart of her competitive advantage.