Online Market for Professional Courses Expected to Grow Over 22.05% by 2016-2020

Technopak and Simplilearn, a leading global Ed-tech company, have jointly published a report titled, “Technopak and Simplilearn Whitepaper on the Digital Learning Market in India”. Covering the most significant trends expected to impact the digital learning landscape in India. The report highlights that the online professional education market globally is expected to exceed US$9bn by 2020, growing at compound annual growth (CAGR) of 14% from 2016 – 2020.

Rapidly Growing Ed-Tech Sector - Online Certification Training

With the growing demand for skilled talent in the IT industry today, the report highlights that working professionals are increasingly looking to enhance their employability by up-skilling with online certification training in emerging technologies like Big Data, Cloud Computing and Salesforce, Project Management, Mobile App Development and Digital Marketing.  Technological advancements in the IT industry has raised awareness about certification training, which is reinvigorating the Indian online professional education space. 

Emerging Learning Trends – Gamification, Augmented and Virtual Reality

The report also indicates emerging trends, and forecasts the gamification of learning and simulation as well as the implementation of augmented and virtual reality in education. It states that the global market size of simulation-driven learning is ~US$4.4bn. With a share of 0.25%, the simulation based learning market in India is estimated to be worth US $13mn in FY’16, and is predicted to grow at a CAGR of over 100% in the next 4-5 years.

“Skilling is one of India’s most critical needs today. However, given the pace of development, there’s a growing realization that skilling needs to be seen from the perspective of lifelong learning. Digital-Learning and online certifications open up a gamut of options for students looking to enter both traditional and non-traditional fields. It also makes learning more interactive, personalized and self-paced. Students get access to world class content, faculty, pedagogy and certification – anytime, anywhere and at a much affordable cost”, says Aurobindo Saxena, Vice President at Technopak Advisors. According to Technopak’s analysis, India’s digital learning market is currently estimated at US$2bn, growing at a CAGR of 30% and is expected to reach US$5.7bn by 2020. There’s a huge demand emerging from working professionals as well to reskill themselves. This rapid demand is supported by the increasing requirement of skills such as data analysis, project management and digital marketing.

Krishna Kumar, Chief Executive Officer of Simplilearn said, “The whitepaper summarizes the different growth drivers of the Indian digital learning market, along with the opportunities and challenges they bring for the online education service providers. Keeping in mind the current skill-gap and the advances in Ed-tech, it’s indeed exciting to see how online certifications have opened up a gamut of opportunities for students and professionals in a world where technologies are changing every few years.”

Technopak education analysts also highlighted the various factors that are contributing to the growth of the digital-learning market in India:

·         Increasing integration of world economies

·         Rise in Internet penetration in India

·         Reduction in prices leading to rise in ownership of mobile devices

·         Rising aspiration for world class education backed by willingness to pay for it

·         Government focus and support

Internet and digital penetration

India currently has 462 million internet users with a penetration of 35%. This growth is driven by the adoption of mobile internet, with 65% of internet traffic originating from mobile devices. With programs such as the Digital India Initiative, digital literacy and penetration is projected to increase significantly in the next few years.

MOOC enrollment

India has the second largest MOOC user base after the US and its rapid expansion means that an increasing number of courses have a majority of people from India. Being affordable and accessible, MOOCs are helping address the quantity and quality education gaps in India by supporting traditional classrooms.

Government Support

The government of India’s Digital India initiative is a flagship programme that envisions to transform India into a digitally empowered society and knowledge economy. Around 20+ new initiatives have been launched to widen the scope of the Digital India Programme to include projects in the areas of digital infrastructure, digital empowerment, on-demand government services and promotion of industry with the aims of universal digital literacy and universally accessible digital resources.

The report further outlines that while there are positive trends regarding the adoption of Digital Learning in India, lack of content in regional languages and poor internet connectivity in smaller towns and semi-urban areas poses the key impediment towards widespread adoption of this technology-driven learning.