How Digitization Can be a Game-changer For India's Education Sector The higher education segment itself, is expected to grow to US$ 35.03 billion by 2025
By Rajan Wadhwa
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Technology has left no industry untouched in the world with its wave of digital transformation. The world has entered into the digital age, and technology has touched every part of the human life, whether it is business, communication, travel, health, or education. A digitized education sector has the ability to transform a country through development of human resources and increased productivity.
Untapped Digital Potential of the Education Sector
India's education sector offers a great opportunity - with approximately 29 percent of India's population being between the age group of 0-14 years, the education sector in India is estimated at US$ 91.7 billion in financial year 2018 and is expected to reach US$ 101.1 billion by financial year 2019. The higher education segment itself, is expected to grow to US$ 35.03 billion by 2025. This offers an excellent opportunity for technology companies to tap this growing sector.
Additionally, the young generation is extremely digital savvy and would prefer the convenience of transacting online at the click of a button on their smartphones. Based on recent research, students are more likely to enroll themselves in an institution that gives them the freedom and ease of a digital campus.
Benefits of Digital College Campuses
Digitizing a college campus offers a host of benefits to not only the students but also college administration, teaching and non-teaching staff and society at large. It eases and supports student journey by providing them with integrated payment system to digitize various payment touchpoints within the campus such as canteen, gymnasium, library, hostels, etc.
It offers blended solution that combines the advantages of mobile app based solution and physical prepaid card. This provides immense flexibility to students as they can make payments even when they are in bad network range through their prepaid cards. It's also a safe and secure option over carrying cash around.
That's not all, digitization allows educational institutions to focus on their core expertise of imparting education. The automation of repetitive and mundane tasks such as collecting, handling, processing and tracking of payments enables staff members to focus on more productive areas, thereby improving the quality of education.
It also reduces the administrative burden on the college. By digitizing processes such as collection of fees and reconciliation of payments collected from parents with bank statements, digital campuses free up staff's time from unproductive tasks.
In a digitally transformed and connected campus, the administration can seamlessly communicate with a batch of students or the entire college using a digital administration module. The students can receive important information as notifications on their mobile phone.
Digital campuses are like stepping stones towards the creation of a Digital India. They are a breeding ground for training our youth to adopt a digital way of life. They train young minds to develop digital mindsets and become future ready. They provide avenues for students to practice the art of money management to become prudent with finances and build a truly digital society.
