Spotlight

Enabling education through IT

Focused on driving quality education, Educomp Solutions is a leading provider of e-learning solutions and digital content. By Neeraj Gandhi

Founded by Shantanu Prakash, Educomp Solutions Ltd. was established in 1994. A decade and a bit later, it has emerged as one the largest technology driven e- learning solutions providers in the country, specializing in the creation, management and delivery of learning content. “From a time when there was little awareness of the potential for using IT in the curricula in Indian schools, to the point where ICT in education is a top priority of central and state governments and de rigeur in private schools, Educomp has come a long way,” said Shantanu Prakash, MD, Educomp Solutions Ltd.

With an employee base of over 2,400 professionals, Educomp currently serves over 3.6 million students and educators across India, USA and Singapore. It has nine offices in India, and one each in Canada, Sri Lanka and Singapore. It has a fully owned subsidiary, Edumatics Corporation based in Ventura, California, in the US. The company has a sales presence in over 57 locations for its different programs, and works with over 7,000 schools across India, US and Singapore.

Over the past 13 years, Educomp has gone from 2 to 2,400 employees. It plans to add 1,500 more in the next fiscal.

The journey

Educomp has had to overcome many hurdles during its decade long journey. The acceptance of IT in education was non-existent and it was difficult for the company to convince schools to adopt IT. “In the mid-nineties, when I started Educomp there was little awareness about the potential for using IT in the curricula, and schools were not exactly enthusiastic about adopting IT in any significant manner,” said Prakash.

Another challenge was to raise money for this venture since banks were not willing to lend money with intellectual capital as security. The funding that was available was offered at a high rate of interest making the creation of a business model in which schools could adopt Educomp’s products another hurdle to be scaled.

“We innovated the business model and pioneered a concept in which instead of asking schools to cough up huge sums of money at one time, we divided the total charge into an easy monthly subscription for each student. Parents with children in private schools did not have a problem adding Rs. 80 to 100 to their child’s monthly fee. This is how Educomp’s products took off,” added Prakash.

There has been no looking back since then. The company has been successful in implementing large- scale public-private-partnership projects. It also works closely with various state and central government agencies, the IT and HRD Ministries, and the governments of other countries. Its current client base of public-private-partnership projects is of 5,950 schools; including large projects from governments of Assam, Chattisgarh, Orissa, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Tripura, Gujarat, and West Bengal.

CSR initiatives Educomp’s vision is to become a transformative learning enabler, which helps in solving critical problems in the education supply chain by applying research-based innovative solutions focused on quality of and access to education. The company also supports the Education Quality Foundation of India (EQFI).

“Our association with EQFI has started with Educomp providing a seed grant of Rs. 2 million. We will contribute over Rs. 20 million to the organization over the next five years to allow it to scale,” said Prakash. That said, the company is also providing its expertise, IP and people resources to EQFI.

Expansion is on the cards

Educomp is rapidly expanding its global footprint while consolidating its presence in India. “Our products and services are set to register over 100% year on year growth for many years to come,” said Prakash. The company has two major initiatives in place for the Indian market; school to workplace program and one-on-one computing program.

The former involves pilot projects that will focus on providing communication, IT and other soft skills to students so as to make them employable. As for the latter, Educomp, through strategic alliances with its partners, will focus on one-on-one computing in classrooms.

Besides, the company also intends to expand globally. Educomp recently acquired Ask ‘n’ Learn Inc., a premier Pan-Asian provider of education solutions and services with a market share of over 40%. This acquisition, believes Educomp, can serve as a gateway to the Asia-Pacific region. Simultaneously the company is also looking at acquiring other companies in the region in countries such as Vietnam, China, Malaysia, and Thailand.

It is also entering into important partnerships with companies in the US to build next-generation education products and services.

In addition, the company’s global development center in Bangalore is developing digital content for the US market. “We want to reach out to 10 million students and be among the top five K12 companies worldwide by 2010,” said Prakash.

neeraj.gandhi@expressindia.com