Tuition time: Vedantu, Unacademy take India's test prep classes online

Every industry is going offline to online; surely, India's coveted engineering coaching centres can't be left behind. Online players Vedantu and Unacademy have the tech, quality control, affordable pricing and enough room in a class to take on institutes like FIITJEE and Aakash. Are the good old offline players feeling the heat?

The offline coaching industry is well over $45 billion in size. Legacy institutions, like Aakash and FIITJEE, have enjoyed a free run. But things are about to change

On their heels are online upstarts like Unacademy and Vedantu, with futuristic products like live tuitions and online doubt resolution. All delivered by highly-rated tutors

The disruption has been quick. A variety of courses, pricing models has students flocking to these new temples of online learning

The disruption of the offline coaching world, however, will not be without both challenges and pushback

Every year, 900,000 students looking to crack the Joint Entrance Exam (JEE) and other top engineering exams, make a beeline for the top coaching institutes in the country. But the competition to get into them is just as much a rat race.

Institutes like Aakash, FIITJEE, Allen, or the numerous coaching factories clustered in the college town of Kota, Rajasthan, charge anywhere between Rs 1-4 lakh ($1,400-5,600) for their services annually. And there aren’t enough seats to go around.

The market size of this mammoth industry was expected to surpass $40 billion by 2015, growing 35% year-on-year between 2012 and 2016, according to a survey by industry body ASSOCHAM.

AUTHOR

Olina Banerji

Based in Delhi, Olina writes about mega-trends in urban mobility, education, skilling and the environment, with a focus on how institutions and innovations can help cities grow sustainably. She is a graduate of the London School of Economics, and has worked previously with India Today and global non-profit Ashoka.

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