How Has The Education Landscape Changed In The Recent Past While these steps are only small changes in a much-needed overhaul of our current system, it might ignite the dire need for an education revolution.
By Akhil Daswani •
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Over the past decade there have been a number of changes in the education space thathave revamped the landscape of the industry.
Growth of International Schools:
In 2003 there were merely 25 high schools that were affiliated to international boards. By 2013, this number had ballooned to close to 500 with a growth in Cambridge-based boards and IB among others. These institutions tend to focus on holistic development of students with a focus on analysis rather than memorization.
This allows us to build a generation of thinkers and innovators rather than followers. Of course, at the exorbitant price point this is hardly an option for the masses, but with a number of schools now beginning to offer these programs at an affordable price, we may see a trickle down effect over the next few years.
More students studying abroad:
With a combination of ridiculous cut offs for the best Indian universities, a rigid education system requiring you to make career decisions at the age of 14 and a growth in disposable income, parents are now, more than ever, looking to send their children abroad to study.
Most parents want children to have the best possible global education with greater exposure, something that they may not have been able to get themselves. We have witnessed this growth first hand through our prep and consulting business at Oncourse.
The effect of this is the grooming of our future industry and country leaders in foreign countries who return with a global perspective.
Mindset Shift:
One of the biggest changes in the recent past has been the increase in the number of parents looking beyond the goal of "getting a reputed job' for their children. With a boom in the startup culture, parents now see more value in them building life skills that would be useful in the "real world', and allowing them to follow their own passions and entrepreneurial ideas rather than goals set by their family.
At Oncourse, we have developed and designed programs that range from Financial Literacy and Coding to Communications for teens, which look to focus on developing such skills. Even adults are increasingly looking to up-skill or re-skill themselves to keep themselves relevant in Industry.
Education Technology:
MOOC's (Massive Open Online Courses) based platforms like Khan Academy, Coursera, and Edx have been revolutionary in their ability to offer courses from the best universities online for free! To indicate India's thirst for better education- we are the largest user of Courseraby a long shot.
Courses that were only kept aside for the "elite' are now suddenly accessible to middle class India to be taken in the comfort of their bedrooms. Other companies have found ways to streamline the process of studying for competitive exams, improve classroom experiences, track student data, and provide adequate and accurate information about options available.
While these steps are only small changes in a much-needed overhaul of our current system, it might ignite the dire need for an education revolution.
