Vittal Bhandary,
Managing Director,
Learning Edge India Pvt Ltd
Little Elly, the Concept Pre-school, is an initiative of Learning Edge India Pvt Ltd, in association with Glen Tree, UK, who are pioneers in serving the learning needs of kids for the last one decade. The school was started with the desire to nurture the child and lay a healthy foundation for a learned society. Vittal Bhandary, Managing Director, Learning Edge India Pvt Ltd, talks about expansion of pre-schools in India
Please share with us the journey of Little Elly Pre-schools Chain?
It all started by default, with my wife Preeti’s passion to work with the little ones and create her own educational start-up. She started the preschool back in 1999 in Kuwait. When we moved to India in 2004, she continued the same in the name of Little Elly. I was just mentoring her at that time. Today by the grace of God, Little Elly has become one of the most admired preschools in Bangalore with 65 centres in the city. We have also entered into other cities in the South like Hyderabad, Chennai and Pune.
Pre-schools have changed from what they were. What are the things you learnt about education and pre-schools?
I feel that preschool is an extension of home. At Little Elly we believe in giving safe and hygienic environment to kids with our specially designed concept rooms where they can play, explore and learn together. In Little Elly we also instil and encourage passion among teachers because building relationships with children and teachers has allowed me to continuously improve myself and influence a positive change in the school culture.
How many pre-schools are there under the umbrella? How do you operate these schools?
Currently, we have around 90 centres. In every city where we enter, we start with a Co-centre and expand through franchise model. Our expansions are mainly focusing on southern cities like Hyderabad, Pune and Chennai market for the next one year.
What is the biggest challenge in front of pre-schools today, and what are we doing to address it?
I think the challenge is always to find the right partner and a good property suiting to preschool.
How challenging is to find skilled management team, especially for the education vertical?
It is definitely challenging to get the right person. But I feel even if we get a semi-skilled manpower with the right attitude, we can mould them accordingly through our training programmes.
What would be your suggestion for those who are planning to venture into starting a new preeducational establishment?
I feel people looking only at ROI should not be getting into educational vertical. Passion and patience would be the two key attributes for opening a private school.
