5 Emerging Trends in India’s ECCE Market
‘A school is a child’s second home’
This sentiment is the guiding light for a parent of an infant or toddler while searching for a preschool. A child’s happiness, innocence, and energy should be nourished within the confines of these institutions. But are the preschools matching up to such lofty expectations? The short answer is that most preschools are trying their best. It is not only a matter of principles, but also a matter of survival.
Let us try to anecdotally explain ‘trying’. A popular preschool in Mumbai’s suburbs decided to embrace technology to further the cause of child safety. It decided to install CCTV cameras in its premises and give 24X7 access for parents to monitor their child’s activity. It was a boon for parents who were worried sick over horror stories that have swarmed the media recently. Soon after the access was given, parents started calling in with complaints about how their child was not given complete attention, how other children were being favored, and how they were disappointed by the teacher’s efforts to manage a group of 20 children. The preschool decided to stop the service after six months. Maybe a case of information overload but noble intentions alone don’t solve problems.
The preschools are learning too, sometimes the hard way, to meet parent’s expectations. While parents are willing to spend, they also want the moon for their child. Nothing wrong with that but hard to accomplish when spaceships are still being built, astronauts are still being trained, and perception rules reality. It is not to say that preschools haven’t evolved. Preschools have come a long way in the 3 decades since the first preschool was established in India. As the industry emerges from its infancy, there are 5 trends that have stood out. These trends are important for all stakeholders involved — children, parents, preschools, and government.
1. Phenomenal growth story of standalone preschools
From almost zero in 1992 to over 33,000 preschools in 2015, parents have seen the rise of brands such as Kidzee, Eurokids, Podar Jumbo Kids, Treehouse, and alike. Most of these preschools have no direct link with a primary school and yet have expanded to provide education to 16.5 crore children in the 0–6 year age category.
Today, some of these chains have established presence of over 1,000 preschools each across cities. Not to be left behind, rural areas are seeing the emergence of preschool brands such as Hippocampus and Sudiksha who have managed to scale and attract investors.
The growth story is entering its next phase as early signs of consolidation are seen. Case in point is the ongoing merger talk between two of the largest players in the space — Kidzee and Treehouse.
2. Rise of women-centric industry
Preschools are also a case study in the empowerment of women . Over 80% of preschools are staffed by women — principals, teachers, teaching assistants, helpers, staff et al. Women entrepreneurs like Meenal Arora, Lina Ashar, and Swati Popat continue to inspire thousands of women to join the space in various capacities each year.
This is partly due to cultural reasons. Teaching, especially of younger children, has been (unfortunately) considered a feminine profession. Other factors include women being considered more caring and emotionally adept, and lower working hours (compared to corporate jobs). Women have made the most of this ‘bias’ to carve a space for themselves.
3. Introduction/innovation of new services, especially technology based
Various innovations such as mother toddlers, playgroups, musical bonding, phonics and alike have been introduced in the preschool arena with varying degrees of success. This has lead to an expansion of the pie as more players have joined.
In order to bring further innovation, companies such as Educomp, Edurite (Pearson), and TeachNext have introduced various forms of technology based learning and preschool management tools.
4. Emergence of parallel education industry
While preschools have been busy expanding their wings, a new industry has risen in its shadows. Hobby classes, coaching classes, and admission prep schools for 0–6 year olds have sprouted in various cities. Providing a range of options, these institutions have leveraged the trend of increased disposable income, double working parents, and ‘panic parenting’ to establish a multi-million dollar niche that is growing at one of the fastest rate in the space.
5. Increased focus on norms, rules, and regulations
While the private market has expanded rapidly, government regulations have been slow to catch up. But the government has become fairly active over the past decade with publication of RTE norms, draft national ECCE policy 2013, NPSSE 2015, and draft NEP 2016.
While all of these are steps in the right direction, the desired effect might take years (if not decades) to be achieved. With education as a subject in the concurrent list, most regulations are stuck in a tussle between state and center for control. While common minimum standards across the nation are highly desirable, bureaucracy is a major hurdle. But the good news is that states are taking an active interest in preschool education e.g. Delhi government’s announcement to open 3,000 ECCE centers in October 2016.
Finally, one must give credit where credit is due. While the schooling system in India is close to 200 years old, preschools have been around for less than 20% of that time. Despite their relative infancy, preschools have done well to scale and solve the problem of access, at least in urban areas. The next phase of growth involves solving the quantity problem in rural areas and targeting the quality issue.
If you think that this was the growth phase of preschools, remember that we have not yet catered to over 40% of India’s child population and have an average ECCE spending of US$ 16 per month per child.
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