How EdTech companies are bridging the rural-urban divide?


                                     How EdTech companies are bridging the rural-urban divide?



Year 2010

Ram a boy from Chandil village in Jharkhand has to travel to 100km daily on a bus to Ranchi for his mathematics tution.He wakes up at 4 am in the morning walks 5km to the nearest bus stand and waits for the bus which takes around 3 hrs to reach its destination.From there it’s another half an hour journey to his Coaching center. He studies there for 2 hrs and then boards another bus to his village which departs at 3 pm.by the time he is home it is already 5 pm. Ram an industrious student rests for an hour and then starts revising the concepts he has learnt.
By the time it is 10 pm Ram starts feeling sleepy and calls for the day and departs to bed. Long hours of journey has fatigued him. Then next day he again wakes up 4 am and starts following his daily routine.
                                                                From the above case we can clearly understand that Ram invests 12 hrs of effort for 2 hrs of productive learning, reason being dearth of mathematics teacher in his village.


Year 2019

It has been 3 yrs Since JIO has taken India by storm and disrupted the Telecom sector. Indians have consumed more data than they have ever before. The demand for data is more from Tier II & Tier III cities.Rural India has registered significant consumption of data.
Meanwhile in Chandil,Jharkhand, Shyam,Ram’s brother is preparing for board exams.Unlike his elder brother. Shyam doesn’t have to commute long distances to prepare for the exam. He is using a Tablet provided by BYJUS and takes help from mentors sitting 1000 Km away from him in Banglore. He spends 2 hrs on the Tab and uses the remaining time to hone his extra-curricular skills.He uses Tablet to communicate with children from metros and is collaborating with students from Sweden for his Science Project.
Social media has made this world a small place. Today’s world is more connected and more interdependent than ever. Edtech companies are using social media as a platform to expand their business.
Another company Teach India is helping students to prepare for several scholarship exams.Shyam’s friend Ghansyam is a space enthusiast, He dreams of going to Mars and talks about ISRO and Elon Musk. He is preparing for Young astronaut program and watches NASA videos provided by an Ed-tech company.He recently visited SRIHARIKOTA under this program.
Ghansyam’s comes from an  under priviledged background and therefore to augment his family income he takes private tutions.His content is best in his area and therefore many students come to him.This makes Ghansyam case a perfect example of TRICKLE DOWN THEORY.
Ed-Tech companies are indirectly creating jobs by empowering people like Ghansyam.

Bridging factor
Technology is bridging the infrastructure divide.In Villages in India lack roads, Schools,Library and other centers of learning are virtually absent.Naxal affected villages where teachers do not go because of security issues.Addressing these infrastructure bottlenecks and security issues would require huge investments of money and time both.These infrastructure bottlenecks and issues should be addressed but the time taken would  hamper the education and growth of child.
EdTech companies provides a cheaper way of addressing the education demand.
Technology will enable students to learn concepts which were erstwhile available to students in metro. Technology has facilitated in free flow of knowledge. Students coming from rural background are competing with students from metros.Students can prepare for several exams such as UPSC or SSC without coming to places like Delhi. Edtech companies are at helm of this change
Future Prospect
With advancement in technology and coming of 5G. Data speed will increase and thus the efficiency of EdTech companies. High Volume data could be sent easily.Thus furthering Internet penetration in Rural India. AI could be used to better analyse the students cognitive skills without establishing expensive schools in Rural India.Data Analytics could be used to better understand the learning outcomes of students in a particular village.This would help the authorities to better allocate the resources.

Conclusion
In the present age Knowledge is power.For India to become a VISHWAGURU we have to become a knowledge based economy.70 percent of India lives in Rural areas.Until this percentage of population is empowered with knowledge we cannot become a developed economy.therefore Edtech companies are needed to provide quality education to non Urban parts of India.
Edtech companies are a game changer in modern day India.It has the potential to reform Education system in India.

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