Schoolguru is a technology-led academic services firm. It partners universities to provide online courses for their students.
Schoolguru is a technology-led academic
services firm. It partners universities to provide online courses for their
students. “We believe the online audio-visual medium has the potential to bring
in on-demand high quality education taught by the top educators from across the
world at the doorsteps of the student,” says Shantanu Rooj, CEO &
co-founder, Schoolguru. The company, which this month raised Rs 20 crore in
funding from high net-worth investors, says its unique partnership model ensures
zero capital expenditure by the universities. He shares with Heena Khandelwal
that online education has the potential to improve upon the face-to-face
learning that happens inside a classroom. Excerpts:
What made Schoolguru go for outside funding?
Schoolguru is a start-up and needs to invest
in areas such as strengthening the technology platform, enhancing the mobile
platform and enriching content. Moreover, as Schoolguru is growing at a brisk
pace and needs to make certain investments in the short term and also cover the
growing operational expenses till such time the organisation reaches
break-even, we decided to go for external fund raising.
How was Schoolguru set up?
After I exited my previous venture
Broadllyne, I met the vice-chancellor of the Karnataka State Open University,
which had invested in massive infrastructure for its online MBA and was
struggling to get all the components ready before the launch. The VC asked me
if I could help the university manage the online MBA in 30 days. I accepted the
offer and Schoolguru was born.
How much does a student have to pay to
subscribe to your courses?
The courses belong to the university and it
is the university that decides on the fees. Schoolguru gets a fee from the
university for every student serviced through its platform.
While the online medium has the potential to
take education to the masses, but is it practically possible in India? The
biggest challenge remains connectivity…
I am sure our mobile app is ready for the job. Upon
admission, the student is provided with a microSD card which has the learning
app. The minimum level of audio-visual content is encoded into the app for offline
viewing. Hence, connectivity, though it is desirable, is not a necessary
condition for a student to get enrolled in an online programme.
Does the online-learning model generate
enough revenue on its own?
Online education has enough potential to generate
large revenues for deserving organisations as the cost of servicing a student
is very low. However, like any other education enterprise, the business needs
investments to be made in the right directions. If implemented well, the model
can generate enough margins in the medium to long term.
What kind of tie-ups you have with the
universities?
We work as technology platform service
provider to government universities. Since these are PPP programmes, the
agreements are exclusive and long term. Schoolguru undertakes the entire
capital expenditure required to create, run and manage the platform.
Do you also develop your own content?
Yes, the courses are developed at Schoolguru
studios spread across the country. We work with about 1,500 professors and
academicians from across the world and ensure customised, syllabus-based
content development for these universities. We have the capability to teach in
nine regional languages apart from English.
How do you choose which all courses have to
be made available digitally?
We currently handle about 140 programmes in
nine languages. The courses belong to various streams such as humanities,
commerce, pure sciences, management, IT, law, performing arts and vocational
programmes. Normally, the choice of programmes is made by the university in
consultation with us.
It is argued that online education is nothing
but simply delivering information over the internet, and transmitting facts is
not education…
Learning is an organic process, not
mechanical. Good teachers know that education is not only about communicating
and transmitting memorised facts. The role of a teacher is to arouse the
curiosity in the mind of the learner and provide her the environment where
learning can happen. Online education is not mere assimilation of digital
assets.
It has the potential to improve upon the
face-to-face education that happens inside a classroom. The online platform has
tools that can not only ensure that the best of the faculty teach the students
but also provide timely feedback and analytics. I must add that our online
platform has the ability to personalise the education experience for the
students.
You are also involved in admissions,
counselling, fees, student support and examination management. Why?
It is not only important to improve the
academics but also the administration of the entire life-cycle of the student.
We set up a dedicated call centre at partner universities to take care of
incoming queries of students. Our ERP platform helps automate processes inside
the university.
How do you view Skill India, Digital India initiatives?
We are bullish about these initiatives and
believe that, if implemented well, they can be revolutionary for the country.
We are ready to support the higher education industry in implementing these
initiatives.
Source | Financial Express | 19 October 2015
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