Education firms ramp up overseas plans

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.

According to R Krishnan, executive director, the company would set up 35 more centres for providing computer education, courses in animation and multimedia education in CIS countries like Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and others like Vietnam and Pakistan.

"We have about 365 centres outside India which deliver IT-based education and courses in games development and animation. The potential for IT-based education is tremendous in those countries and they constantly look for people who can create and deliver software."

Krishnan adds that the IT education market in these countries, as also in Thailand, Malaysia, South Africa and Fiji, is growing at 15-20% approximately and would only continue to grow in future. On the other hand, in India, the IT training and education market is growing at 25% per annum.

In China, where Aptech entered in 2000 through a 50:50 joint venture with Beijing Jade Brid, a local partner, it has set up 250 centres and has cornered a third of that market. At Rs 170-180 crore of revenues, the Chinese operations contribute 40% of Aptech's consolidated revenues.

The company would follow the franchise model for its expansion and thus the business partners in the various countries would invest for setting up the centres, adds Krishnan.

Besides setting up animation and IT education centres, the company will also set up five international N-power centres, which provide courses in networking and system engineering in Asia and Africa. "We currently have only one N-power centre abroad in Vietnam. Our new N-power centres would help in scaling up our niche segments."

Meanwhile, Educomp Solutions, the largest player in the space after NIIT, acquired Singapore-based education solutions and services provider Ask 'n' Learn in 2007. It is planning to enter other countries in Asia Pacific (APAC).

The Delhi-based company will enter Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand by this academic year, according to managing director Shantanu Prakash.

"We currently cater to 60% of all schools (about 150) in Singapore, (mostly government schools), through the smart_class module. We feel there is tremendous scope to tap other markets in the APAC region as well."

The smart_class module entails providing plasma screens and digitized content in schools for the K-12 levels.

Though Prakash refused to divulge details about the number of schools that Educomp would look to service in the new markets or the amount that would be invested, he said that the company generally invests about Rs.30 crore each year in intellectual property creation.

Educomp also has a presence in the US, where it licenses content to companies like Learning.com.

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The three companies, which currently cater to more nearly 15 million children in India and abroad, are looking at doubling the number by 2010.

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