Assignment on

“The Advent of Edupreneurs – How to Become a

Successful Edupreneur in India”

BY
Sheryl Susan John (94)
Smitha Vivekanandan (97)
Subasri S (104)
Upasana Dwarakanath (112)
 Contents

Sl. No. Topic Page No.

I Introduction 3
II Edupreneurs 5
III Case Studies 9
IV Recommendations 10
V Bibliography 12
Edupreneurs

Introduction
Education in India dates back to times unknown and has a rich heritage. The foundation for
the formal system of education was laid by the arrival of the British in India. During the
recent past, Indian economy has progressed, fuelled mainly by the cheap labour available in
the country and inexpensive low end manufacturing. But the situation is changing and India
has come to realise that its economic future lies in a better educated workforce which makes
higher education its key to development.

Post independence, India has laid a lot of emphasis on education and has developed some
comprehensive policies to improve the educational system in the country. The main policies
include:
• National Policy on Education, 1968
• National Policy on Education, 1986
• National Policy on Education, 1986, as modified in 1992

Right to Education Bill 2009

The Bill gives a lot of hope aspiring and existing private players. Since there is no profit to be
made from India’s poor, most of their ventures will concentrate on the upper classes. For the
majority of Indians especially for those living below the poverty line, the Constitutional
Amendment in 2001 came with the promise that the country’s liberal democracy will actually
assume responsibility for all its citizens. The current bill, which makes this Constitutional
right legal, is conspicuously silent on increasing the State outlay for Government schooling.
Also, following on the lines of the Constitutional Amendment, the Bill limits its ambit to
children between the ages of 6 and 14. It shifts the responsibility of ‘poor students’ to private
schools (the 25 per cent reservation clause). Powered by a change in the socialist
Government’s conscious step of keeping core sectors such as the country’s defence and
education out of the liberalisation drive, the Minister has boldly announced that the
Government is looking to make revenue for itself and for the private sector by making a
commodity of education.

The Right to Education Bill mandates school management committees to take charge of
neighbourhood schools. It speaks of a common board that will do away with the differential
educational standards in the country.

The Overall State of the Education Sector in India as of now

An effective education system cannot be envisaged without effective governance and
management in the institutions. In India, governance arrangements are in many ways
dysfunctional. Political interference with academic decisions, from hiring of staff to creating
new programmes is widespread. Private universities have less external controls: S.P. Jain
Institute of Management in Mumbai; Amity University, Delhi; Indian School of Business and
ICFAI Business School, Hyderabad; Mahavir Academy of Technical Sciences and
Presidency College, Bangalore and the Great Lakes Institute of Management, Chennai,
among others.

The market logic to education is poised to play an important role in India’s pursuit of
inclusive growth. It’s necessary to analyze the impact of marketisation of education on the
3 stated objectives of expansion, inclusion and excellence.

Achieving inclusive growth as per the mandate of the ongoing Eleventh Five Year Plan
(EFYP) is a daunting challenge for policy makers. It’s important to understand how the

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market for higher education (which is the upcoming sector for edupreneurs) is evolving and
what the market implies for education and society in the broader sense of the term.

The policy framework for higher education is formed by the approach of the EFYP ,the report
of NKC, along with the recently submitted report on renovation and rejuvenation of higher
education(YCR-Yashpal Committee Report),prepared under the leadership of Prof. Yash
Pal. Firm commitment is being shown by the government to reverse the declining budgetary
allocation. It has always been tilted in favour of primary education but with the
overwhelming importance of attaining Gross Enrolment Rate (GER) in higher education to
15% by the end of 2012, the EFYP is of the opinion that the sector needs to be overhauled.
The centre has already taken policy initiatives to set up colleges and universities in unserved
regions. The National Knowledge Commission (NKC) has recommended setting up an
Independent Regulatory Authority for Higher Education (IRAHE) and has also suggested
setting up of specialized research institutes primarily to meet the growing demand for
professional skill- based education. The inclination towards greater private sector
participation and the consequential neglect of the existing public education system, has found
few takers within the academic circles.

When we extol the virtues of a competitive market, the pertinent question is whether
competition in a market for education would usher in quality improvement and some
movement towards homogenization through the price mechanism. Reputed institutions attract
more funds in a scenario of competitive funding, more endowments from the reputed alumni
as they come forward to donate and form a network, which enable those institutions to offer
more scholarships and lower fees to attract good students. Similarly they attract the best
minds to teach and do research. As a consequence the top institutions remain at the top and
the mediocre ones are at the middle and the not-so-good ones are at the bottom.

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Edupreneurs
According to a Goldman Sachs report Dreaming with BRICs (Brazil, Russia, India, and
China), India could be one of the world’s most dominant economies by 2050. The soaring
Indian stock market has demonstrated an extraordinary level of confidence in the country’s
potential. India’s population of 1.1 billion—having often been considered a liability—is now
being redefined as its “demographic dividend.” Behind the gloss of the predictions is an open
caveat: Much of India’s growth depends on its ability to bring substantial improvement to its
dismal education sector.

Clearly there is a deeply held assumption here—that education and profit are mutually
exclusive—you can’t educate children well and make money at the same time. The
community recognises that there is nothing wrong in principle with making a profit from the
provision of profession services such as medicine, law and accountancy so long as these
services are conducted in accordance with the profession’s code of ethics and within the
relevant legislation. These regulations aim to protect the rights of the consumer and mitigate
conflicts of interest. Therefore, with similar guidelines in place, there is no reason, in
principle, why profit could not be derived from K-12 education.

Furthermore, it is generally agreed that many other types of education including private
tuition, coaching colleges, professional development, vocational training and some private
tertiary institutions may ethically be run on a for-profit basis. This indicates that there in
nothing in the nature of education per se which should necessarily exclude it from the for-
profit marketplace.

We define edupreneur as, "a person who takes hands on responsibility in creating and
developing a program, product, service, and/or technology for the enhancement of learning
consistent with the stated goals of and supported by that organization."

Edupreneurs are educational entrepreneurs who are in big demand to infuse a revolution in
the education sector. As a rich human resources nation, India should unleash ample number
of edupreneurs to achieve social goals at a faster pace. They will be like our software
engineers and centre kids who accelerated the pace of India’s economic progress in an
unbelievably short period of time. If India stands tall today in the global economy, it is
because of the software industry, telecom revolution and BPOs. If these three areas are rated
as the major contributors for the success of Indian economy and society, edupreneurs could
be the foundation stone for nation’s solid growth in the coming days. By encouraging
edupreneurs to take off, the government can zero in on unemployment and illiteracy
simultaneously. Frustrated by the inefficiencies of government schools, millions of poor
parents are voting with their feet by pulling their children out of the free, yet abysmal, public
system. They are increasingly sending them to private schools run by young edupreneurs who
charge a nominal monthly fee.

In recent years, thousands of schools run by enterprising edupreneurs have taken root in
urban slums, small towns, factory settlements, and the by-lanes of suburbs that are inhabited
by low- and middle-income Indians. Parents believe in the transformative power of education
for their children and are willing to pay a price. While government schools usually teach in
local regional languages, most private schools promise an “English” education and guarantee
satisfaction. Edupreneurs have attempted to fill the void in areas where government schools
are either missing or ineffective. They have successfully convinced local parents that their
children will receive personalized attention and a competitive education. The edupreneurs

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have kept their promises by attracting talented teachers from within the community,
implementing effective teaching methodologies, and extending school hours to ensure that
children are able to study without the pressures of child labour and unsupportive family
environments. By offering scholarships to deserving students (particularly girls and orphans),
these school founders have mobilized community members to support educational causes.

But, these institutions find themselves in a constant struggle with public bureaucrats to obtain
legal recognition as they compete with highly subsidized government services. With no
collateral to offer banks, cash and resources are scarce; microfinance institutions are reluctant
to offer the amount of capital that they need. Moreover, a significant fraction of participating
parents are poor—making fee defaults quite common. Edupreneurs are thus forced to rely on
lenders for the payment of day-to-day expenses and instructor salaries.

The Manipal Academy for Higher Education rakes in revenues of Rs 814 crore, Amity Rs
600 crore, the Delhi Public School Society Rs 400 crore and Indian Institute of Planning &
Management Rs 200 crore.

There are four clear upsides of removing the regulatory cholesterol that impedes
entrepreneurship in education:
• Private enterprise will improve both in terms of access and quality and India will build
world-class institutions. Indian students will be spared humiliation at home (not seeing
your name in the admission list despite being a good student) and abroad (racial
prejudice, visa rejections, etc.).
• Competition will eliminate regulatory arbitrageurs. A handful of current players, who are
honest and competitive, will continue to prosper. Most importantly, the reforms will
allow honest entrepreneurs to set up schools and colleges.
• Multiple price points and alternative models will emerge. Private enterprise will create
offerings all along the price spectrum.
• Massive investments upwards of a few billion dollars will flow into both the core and
ancillary education sector. Indian entrepreneurs will be better equipped to face
competition from offshore offerings.

Over the past two decades, the spurt in demand for higher education in India has meant that
public institutions could no longer play a lone hand. The government is clearly unable to
accommodate the volume of students who now seek to pursue higher education in India. To
top it all, there is growing dissatisfaction with the public education system. Thus, the growth
of the private sector in higher education was only a matter of time and, indeed, its rise has
been spectacular in the 21st century.

Current Scenario in the Private Sector

Worldwide, private education is the fastest growing segment of post-secondary education.

The private sector has grown in response to demand for access to higher education in various
fields. Many Indian undergraduate students study in private colleges, as many as 95% of
these institutions are managed by private agencies such as religious organizations, cultural
agencies, philanthropic groups, and others. Many of these receive funds from government
sources and are called aided institutions. Many others receive no funds from the government.
Almost all these colleges are affiliated to universities. A small number of private universities
have been approved by the central or the state government to offer degrees. In addition, there
are private specialised post-secondary institutions, mainly business schools. Some have the
government’s degree granting approval, others grant only certificates. Almost all are financed

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by tuition payments. There are several older players like the Birla Institute of Technology and
Science which have achieved considerable respect now. Also, several of India’s large
corporations are in the process of starting universities, among them are Reliance Industries,
Mahindra and Mahindra and the Vedanta group. They are stimulated, among other things by
a recognition that many of India’s existing universities are of low quality.

Among the many areas of debate around education reform is the question of mindset. As
Kaushik Basu noted in his dissenting note to the Yash Pal Committee’s recommendations on
reforming higher education in India: “Our main aim must be to nurture excellence instead of
spending a disproportionate amount of energy to curb the lack of it.”

Basu, who is Professor of Economics at Cornell University, points out that the US has
arguably the world’s greatest universities, but also many sub-par ones. “The existence of the
latter does not harm the reputation of the US as a nation of academic excellence. If there was
a perfect way for the state to efficiently weed out the bad, I would be for it. But as we learnt
from our experience with industrial licensing, often the effort to weed out the bad by using
bureaucratic control can do more harm than good,” Basu has written.

The redoubtable Ramdas M. Pai, Chairman, Manipal Education and Medical Group, and
President & Chancellor, Manipal University, says the current maze of regulations helps only
the dubious players. “On paper, there is regulation. But in implementation, it’s corruption that
rules. As a result, good institutions like ours are suffering. What we need are transparent
regulations.”
China and India are the top two exporters of students and have been so for the past two
decades. The numbers constitute close to half of the world’s total of international students.
However, India’s international efforts lag behind those of China. There is already
considerable foreign involvement in the country and there also is considerable potential for
expansion. At least 150 foreign academic institutions had various kinds of joint degree or
other collaborative arrangements in India with the largest number (66) from the US, followed
by Britain (59). Both China and India because of their size, the scope of higher education
market, the rise of the middle class, and academic potential are of great interest to the
international academic community. China and India are to play a key international role in
higher education.
The private sector has been playing an increasingly important and influential role in India’s
educational sector over the past few years. In fact, at last count, over 50% of the country’s
educational institutions were privately run (in the US, the private sector’s share is 32% and in
China, it is 25%). As an industry, private educational institutions in India were worth $40
billion in 2008, a figure that is projected to grow to $70 billion by 2013 and $115 billion by
2018 from a demand growth perspective, if supply keeps pace.

The problems, however, are two-fold: a large demand-supply gap and average to poor quality
of most privately-run institutions. There is clearly an opportunity, therefore, for more private
players to enter the education space. While schooling and higher education institutes are
required to be set up as ‘not-for-profit’ ventures, with mandatory registration as a Trust or
Society, quality institutes are the need of the day. Entrepreneurs and companies wanting to
invest in education, therefore, need to follow certain thumb rules.

1. Market assessment: A pragmatic assessment of the “catchment” in each segment of

education is important, from the standpoint of achieving required student enrolment,
before planning an investment. The catchment (in this case the travel time to and
from the institute) for a pre-school student should be 30 minutes, for a K-12 day

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school 60 minutes, and for a residential school, this would be five hours. Demand for
a vocational training institute originates from within city premises, with few students
travelling across cities for enrolment. A university or a higher education institute
would ideally attract students from all parts of India as well as South Asia, the
Middle East and Africa and, therefore, matters would be dictated by the quality of
education on offer and the reputation of the institute.
2. Key Financials: Setting up an educational institution requires access to large amounts
of capital. A regular K-12 school, built over 2 acres of land with a capacity of 2,100
students, would require an investment of around Rs. 15 crores and so would an MBA
institute spread over 1.5 acres with a capacity of 240 students. An engineering
college with a capacity of 1,600 students spread over 10 acres of land, on the other
hand, would require an investment of Rs. 100 crores. Similarly, the project cost for
setting up a private university over 300 acres of land, with a capacity of 4,000
students, may be around Rs 1,500 crores. In these ventures, financial returns are
attractive, with EBITDA levels of over 30% and project IRRs ranging from 25-35%
levels.
3. Regulation: Shortage of quality educational institutions is a result of India’s tightly
controlled regulatory structure. Education is regulated at both the Central and state
government levels. Higher education has several regulatory bodies, including AICTE
and UGC, but there is no umbrella body to regulate K-12 schools, nor a uniform law
for schools. There are considerable entry barriers and regulations to be met, and a
thorough understanding of these would, perhaps, lead to better and quality
institutions.

Higher Vocational and Ancillary

Schooling
Education Training Segments
Test Child Skill Database
Pre-schools
Preparation Development Management
K-12 Enrolment
Graduation E-Learning
Schools Management
Post Admissions
Tutoring Finishing School
Graduation Outsourcing
Vocational & IT
Books
Training
CD-ROMS Teacher Training
Stationery

Opportunities for entrepreneurs in the education sector

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Edupreneurs

India’s 75,000 private schools account for just 7 per cent of total institutions and enrol 90
million students. The country has nearly 370 universities and 18,000 colleges, 500,000
teachers and the third-largest system in terms of enrolment with more than 10 million
students. Whereas, Japan with its nearly 128 million people, has 684 universities, USA with
300 million people has 2,364 universities, and Germany with 82 million people has 330
universities.
And the appetite for a better tomorrow is only growing as aspiring families seek to give their
children the greatest opportunity to succeed and prosper in the new economy. Given this,
business opportunities in education are opening up virtually at every level: Kindergarten up
to Standard XII (called K-12, for short), coaching classes, business schools, etc. Analysts
estimate this industry to be worth $40 billion.
K-12
Market Size Regulation Opportunities Recent Developments

K-12
education will
Mandatory require 34
Recognition: million
Required additional
(except in seats by 2018.
Yash Birla plans Rs 500 crore foray
some states
into education to open K-12 schools
like Punjab). Public
education
Manipal K-12 is targeting to own
Fee leaves a lot to
100 schools in the next five years.
structure: be desired.
2008: $19.6 Billion Not 34% of
Educomp plans to build 150 schools
2013: $28.8 Billion controlled. school-going
by 2012. GEMS Education plans to
2018: $40.3 Billion children attend
open 7 schools in 3years
Authority: 20% of
State Dept. schools
HRD Ministry has announced PPP in
of Education, (private
3500 schools out of the 6000 model
City schools).
schools it hopes to launch in the
Municipal
future
Dept., High
Society propensity of
Registrar, the middle
NCERT. class to spend
more on
education.
Since there is nothing wrong in principle with making a profit from K-12 education if it is
conducted in accordance with suitable professional guidelines and, if necessary, regulated by

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minimal legislation, the benefits of such a development in the education marketplace need to
be explored. If the benefits of encouraging for-profit education can be shown to be
significantly superior to the current system then policy makers need to justify why such
reforms are not being undertaken.

IBM had introduced the personal computer in 1981, the Computer Society of India had said
Indian industry was hamstrung by a lack of computer professionals, and India at that time
had 6,00,000 unemployed graduates. The NIIT founders saw the mother lode: making
industry and education talk.
Today, NIIT is one of the world’s leading education companies, centred on the premise of
employability, which in turn has become a multi-billion-dollar business that has set the pulse
of old and new entrepreneurs racing. No wonder then that everybody wants in: new
entrepreneurs, established players in school and higher education, private equity investors
and foreign players. The terrain covers everything from test preparation, training and
assessment to curriculum, teacher’s training, technology delivery and products.

Training sights
India’s education and training sector market is valued at $40 billion with a potential 16 per
cent five year CAGR as per the CLSA report. Bulk of the core education space is around K-
12. iDiscoveri, a company that, among other things, seeks to provide learning aids and training
to educators and also business leaders.
And, it is here that many new age entrepreneurs have trained their sights on, especially after
the success of Educomp Solutions, which has become a Rs 4,803-crore company on the stock
market since it listed in 2006 (at the height of the market boom in January 2008, its market cap
was about Rs 9,750 crore). They have opted for an ‘Intel inside’ approach and wish to
participate in the school curricula by providing intelligent content, and teacher training. And
the core of primary education, valued at $20 billion, is being addressed by private players as
there’s clearly a huge demand for better schools from the country’s middle class. In addition,
supplementary teaching is another area of growing opportunity. The CLSA report on
education estimates that at least 20 million children take some form of tuition outside the
classroom.
Aside from tutoring at school level, there’s an entire market for preparatory classes for
students wanting admission in IITs, MBAs, medical colleges and civil services. Millions of
Indian parents, eager to see their children get a seat in one of these professional courses, are
coughing up sizeable sums of money into prep classes. At last count, prep institutes were
pulling in $1.7 billion a year. Alongside, the opening up of aviation, financial services,
telecom and modern retail has seen the market for vocational training soar, which is estimated
to be worth $1.4 billion a year. Just like teacher training and finishing schools for IT, training
for BPOs is another area of demand. Yet, these are just beginning to take off, with an industry
size of $40 million.

Market Size Regulation Opportunities Recent Developments

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Career Launcher readies

university launch in 2010.
Recognition: Industries such as
Only for ITIs and logistics, healthcare, NIIT University rolls out
polytechnics. construction, in September 2009.
Vocational & Authority for hospitality and
Training: $1.4 registration: automobiles need Everonn, a technology-
billion (10%) State trained manpower. enabled education player,
Test Government. has entered formal
Preparation: Authority for New and viable education; to set up
$1.5 billion affiliation: business models in colleges.
(15%) Directorate technology-enabled
E-learning: General of education. Matrix Partners India
$.04 billion Employment and invested Rs 100 crore in
(40%) Training, 2.5 million getting IIT test prep company
IT Training: National Council vocation training FIITJEE.
$1.8 billion for Vocational annually against an
(40%) Training or State estimated 85-90 Career Point that started as
Council for million people a test prep outfit has
Vocational needing it from 2008- recently raised Rs 50 crore
Training. 13. in equity capital from
Franklin Templeton
Private Equity Strategy.

Future of Education in India

India is already a major global force in providing higher education. But it needs to add more
facilities for which it would be required to provide significant additional financial support for
higher education over the coming decades. A part of this growth is also dependent on the
continued expansion of the private sector and on distance education. In the coming years the
private sector must be integrated into the mainstream if the growth is to be fully established.

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Case Studies
EDUCOMP has spotted opportunities in virtually every segment of education without
getting caught in regulatory hassles. “As some of you may be aware my company Educomp
Solutions is launching its IPO on Monday, 19th December. The issue will remain open till
22nd of December. I need your support to make the issue a success. Please apply for the issue
and also spread the word around. We will be the first educations company in India to be
listed,” said Shantanu Prakash, Managing Director, Educomp Solutions.

He launched his initiative in 1994 and started off by trying to enter schools through IT
intervention. He devised a clever way of affording schools an opportunity to get a return on
investment on IT by opting for the build, operate and transfer model. “He is truly a visionary
who has seen the business need that was just lying there waiting to be picked up and he’s now
present in virtually every segment,” says an industry observer.

Prakash does not deny the claim: “We are an education eco-system company and have a
footprint in virtually all major segments,” he says and does not mince his words on his
leadership status: “We are 10 times our nearest competitor and are present in 2,900 schools
through our learning aids. We currently have 23 schools in our portfolio under different
brands and we hope to have 150 by July 2012. We are the largest in pre-schools and will have
2,000 such outfits by the next few years.”

The Edupreneurs of Hyderabad

Anwar started one school in a Hyderabad slum a few years ago. Today he runs four schools,
is constructing a junior college for girls and wants a loan to start yet another college. Anwar
is an edupreneur – a unique breed of innovative, enterprising entrepreneurs committed to
delivering education in spite of insurmountable odds.

At the entrance of Anwar’s school is a huge banner with pictures of students who received
merit ranks – a brilliant strategy that recognizes the success of his students and advertises the
school to parents who are choosing between the 15 other neighbourhood private schools.
Anwar stands below the banner each morning for two hours talking to parents who are
concerned about their children’s progress. He addresses queries ranging from school fees to
complaints about the neighbourhood bully. Anwar is extremely responsive to parent’s needs
– the students’ report cards have graphs depicting their performance, pictorial depictions that
help illiterate parents monitor the progress of their children. To address any concerns of
teacher absenteeism, Anwar is now installing cameras in all the classrooms.

Anwar’s students have done him proud. All the classes that we visited were packed with
well-dressed, disciplined, eager students who wanted to become engineers, teachers, doctors
and academics. These are children of mechanics, day labourers, farmers and truck drivers.
They pay Rs. 70 – Rs 200 to attend Anwar’s school because it offers a good quality education
and gives them an opportunity to fulfil their dreams. 90% of the girls in Class X said that they
loved Math and wanted to become engineers – it is likely that their parents will force them to
discontinue their education because of the absence of a nearby college, but Anwar has a
solution – he is building a college that caters exclusively to the hundreds of girls in the
neighbourhood!

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Recommendations
A rapidly growing economy like that of India demands an adequate supply of accountable
and quality education. Experiences among independent private school leaders in the recent
past demonstrate the need for a consolidated network of schools that is designed to deliver a
high standard of education under a unified framework. A branded network of private schools
that is intended for low-income communities can offer children a standardized curriculum at
an affordable cost and significantly bolster the efforts of edupreneurs vis-à-vis public
authorities and lenders. An enterprise of this sort can fill the void in India’s educational
system. To succeed, however, it must adopt a versatile and efficient strategy, meet the needs
of local communities, parents, and children, and empower school founders to build effective
and sustainable institutions. It should have the following characteristics:

1. Private Schools Owned and Operated by the Poor: The delivery of sustainable and
profitable local education services will depend on the empowerment of community
members who wish to open and run private schools. The power of grassroots
entrepreneurship is on ample display among the thousands of existing private school
owners. If these edupreneurs are provided with necessary resources and support
structures, they will continue to thrive and revolutionize the educational system.
2. Local Entity, National Identity: Although they will be integrated under a common
brand, portfolio schools will have to be adapted to meet local requirements. Parents
are known for peculiar needs throughout various sections of the country. A catered
local approach will ensure that all stakeholders are satisfied.
3. Industrial Strength Standardization: Starting a school in India is an arduous task.
The school owner must spend several years addressing government mandates, and
then struggle to find teachers, procure materials, and build a sustainable institution.
Resources from a consolidated private school network can dramatically expedite the
start-up process; consider for instance, a sort of plug-and-play model that comes with
all of the materials that are required to start and run a school—for example,
government paperwork, training material for teachers, standardized curricula, and
more.
4. Reliable Process for Selecting Edupreneurs: Individual edupreneurs will form the
backbone of the school network. While consistent performance metrics are vital,
network managers must identify edupreneurs who are both proficient in their work
and capable of driving change under adverse circumstances. Commitment to
education, acumen in business, creativity, ingenuity, and honesty constitute the most
valuable skill set.
5. Investment Strategy: Making judicious investments is a balancing act. The network
will need to establish a rigorous investment process that takes into account the
disparate financial needs of various schools. Partnerships with banks and other
financial institutions will be critical to ensuring the right mix of loans, guarantees, and
equity financing.
6. Scalable Investment Model: The network must create a sustainable, scalable, and
portable investment model. A good model for investing in private schools will
encompass a variety of elements, including franchisee fees, default strategies, and
revenue collection cycles.
7. Communications Strategy: Given mainstream perceptions in India that education is
a public good that should be free of cost; the network must devise a well-equipped
communications campaign. To manage the challenges of edupreneurs as they struggle
to ensure order in their schools, the franchise must put support services and public

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relations resources at their disposal. With an effective communication mechanism,

school founders can keep parents well-informed about school performance.
8. Strategy for Fostering Innovation: The network will need to encourage innovation
in teaching methodologies, learning techniques, and school governance among its
edupreneurs to ensure that the curricula have a marked effect on student trajectories.
9. Equity for Edupreneurs: To align the incentives of all stakeholders, edupreneurs
must be made equity holders in the enterprise.

The above are recommendations to the edupreneurs. However, without the right
infrastructure to support them, no action on their part will result in a better education system.
There are important lessons for education policymakers in India as well. Education
entrepreneurs need to be encouraged by removing rules that hinder the establishment and
operation of schools in the primary, secondary and higher secondary areas of education.
Competing schools will create choices for parents, improving access and quality for all. The
government can then focus its limited education budget on the neediest sections of society.

Inadequate education in India is not only a funding problem but also a result of over-
regulation of the school market. The burgeoning market of low-budget private schools has
enormous potential.

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Bibliography

Business Today magazine, issue of September 20, 2009

Economic and Political Weekly magazine, issue of July 18-24, 2009

http://www.bigedupreneur.com

http://thesparkgroup.wordpress.com

http://www.edentrepreneurs.org/edupreneur.phtml

http://www.business-opportunties.com

http://www.financialexpress.com/news/fdi-in-education-sector

http://www.business-standard.com/india/news

http://www.chillibreeze.com/articles_various/edupreneurs.asp