Amid Coronavirus pandemic, the year 2020 was full of innovation for teachers and students as they adapted new ways of learning. From turning walls of mud houses into blackboards to taking classes through loudspeakers on moving carts the unprecedented year gave more than just education. In 2020, the ed-tech firms has seen a huge growth, which was expected five-years below the line.
The over 10-month-long lockdown inspired education stakeholders to take up creative ways of making children learn in the best possible way. Many students could not log on to online classes because they did not have access to smartphones and computers in several villages across the country.
From Haryana to Jharkhand to Maharashtra to Kerala, teachers across the country created new and innovate ways to impart education to students against all odds. The technology acted as a huge enabler to bridge the gap between rural and urban students.
The pandemic has changed the face of education sector and the penetration of technology has only opened up new opportunities for the ed-tech players.
Sumeet Mehta, Cofounder & CEO, LEAD School said Thanks to COVID 19, Edtech is not a choice anymore, it is an essential. Technological innovations like online classes, learning management systems, etc. are now becoming a part and parcel of our education system. While everyone from banks, to news, to offices have adopted technology systems to operate more effectively & efficiently, the classroom and school had been stagnant for the past 60-70 years. Covid-19 disrupted this status quo and now school owners have been forced to embrace technology.
As we come out of the pandemic, core education will continue to be offered in schools but schools will look and act very different. There will be far greater permeation of systems and technology to make schools run effectively. Till about 12 years of age, mediated learning (learning assisted by a trusted adult) is essential. Teachers will continue to play an important role till high school but they will need to be enabled by technology. Going forward, learning will become more and more personalised. Schools will need to personalise for students’ speed of understanding, interest in different subjects and language ability.
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India has to not only bring back all the students who have suffered massive learning losses in 2020, it also has to ensure it stays focused on improving the quality of learning outcomes in its schools.
Rishab Mehta, Founder and CEO, GrayQuest said ‘India is touted as the global hub for fintech innovation. Advancements in fintech are closely linked to regulatory acceptance and India has emerged as the global leader in terms of creating public infrastructure for a thriving fintech ecosystem. In less than a decade, we have seen Indian consumers go from relying only on cash on delivery for their ecommerce purchases to widespread adoption of payments technologies such as UPI and app-based investing. The future too, seems bright. Today, you can travel to any major Indian city or town like with no physical cash and still experience a frictionless journey.
While new age fintech companies in each category such as lending, investing, insure-tech etc. have all seen great boost in acceptance, existing legacy financial services companies like Banks have also engaged in massive “digital transformation” exercises. At GrayQuest, while demand for our education focused credit has risen 4x from last year, the defining trend of 2020,for us, has been the significant willingness and initiatives from larger Banks & FIs to engage in deep partnerships with new age financial services companies like ours.
Dr. A.M. Rawani, Director, National Institute of Technology, Raipur said The year 2020 has been an unprecedented year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the testing times, the administration of NIT Raipur has remained committed to keep the momentum going on all the fronts while adhering to the safety precautions under the Jan Andolan Campaign. The classes are being engaged online, digital examinations were conducted and results were declared timely in the New Normal. The institute registered with MOOC and Virtual Lab platforms to facilitate online learning. Inspite of the pandemic, our students continue to bag excellent placement offers from almost all the sectors. Convocation Ceremony of the institute was also organized in virtual mode. In addition to the assistance extended, the faculty and students of NIT Raipur came forward and contributed their expertise in developing various innovative products like Mechanical Non-touch Liquid-Soap Dispenser, Sanitizer, Bio-Purifier etc. to track, control and prevent COVID-19. Apart from this, the faculty and students are also working on more than 15 research projects like Camera based detection of mask on human face, Self-testing Health Risk App, etc.
