Education firms ramp up overseas plans
MUMBAI: ‘Think global, expand globally’ seems to be the mantra for companies in the education space.
After establishing presence in India in domains like online tutoring, computer technology for government and private schools, teacher training, etc the companies are now keying in for a big revolution overseas.
Chennai-based Everonn Systems India, which the fourth-largest company offering educational and training services, is planning to set foot for the first time on foreign soil by designing curriculum for schools in Southeast Asia and the Gulf.
According to R Kannan, director, the company will structure the curriculum and provide content for classes 1-10 of Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) schools.
“There are about 50 CBSE schools in the Gulf and in Southeast Asian countries like Malaysia and Singapore. Hence, there is tremendous scope to conduct business overseas. Our team of researchers and educationists is working on the content and we expect to introduce it in June-July this year.”
The company is also looking to develop curriculum for schools in Africa that adhere to the local boards. “A team of 35 researchers is working on bringing out content for the kindergarten-12 level for African schools, which would be on a global platform by October this year. The number of schools will be decided later,” says Kannan.
He adds that Everonn would initially invest about Rs 25 crore for its overseas ventures, the funding for which is being worked out.
Aptech, the third-largest player in the IT education space in India, already has a presence in five continents. It is also planning to ramp up its presence abroad — a slew of new centres are slated to spring up in Pakistan, Russia, Vietnam, etc.