Posted on 01 October, 2020
Shiksha Finance is a Zephyr Peacock portfolio company
that provides loans to affordable private schools (APS) and to students from
low-income backgrounds in India. Shiksha’s founders, V.L. Ramakrishnan (Ramki)
and Jacob Abraham, comment on how APS are dealing with the impact of COVID-19.
Click here to read the full article on “Higher Education Digest”
Below is an excerpt from the post that first appeared on Higher
Education Digest on 1 October 2020:
During COVID-19, Affordable Private Schools (APS) in India
are struggling to upgrade their infrastructure and to adapt to a new reality.
Shiksha Finance, a non-bank finance company (NBFC) founded by V.L. Ramakrishnan
(Ramki) and Jacob Abraham in 2014, is one of the only three lenders that serve
the financing needs of APS in India. The company has financed over 2,500
schools across Tamil Nadu, Pondicherry, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka
and Maharashtra. In the last four months, Ramki and Jacob have personally met
hundreds of parents and school heads. Now, they are very well attuned to the
concerns of schools, teachers and parents, and are well informed on the
challenges facing APS and how they are planning to restart operations. In an
interaction with Higher Education Digest, Ramki and Jacob talk about the
struggles of APS to upgrade their infrastructure and to adapt to a new reality,
issues faced by parents of students from low-income families due to the
pandemic, support of Shiksha Finance for the changing needs of schools as well
as parents, and many more.
Despite being a viable business with proven
profitability, what are the significant challenges for Affordable Private
Schools (APS) in India?
Ramki: Affordable Private Schools (APS) have emerged as an
important alternative to government-run schools in India due to their superior
quality education. However, APS have their own sets of issues. These schools
face difficulties in setting optimal school/tuition fees due to government
regulations. They also require funding to improve their infrastructure. APS are
also faced with the three major challenges of running any school –
unavailability of qualified teachers, delays in fee payments and management of
students’ commute to and from school
How are APS adjusting to the COVID-19 crisis and what
behaviour can be expected in the post- COVID world?
Ramki: In our experience, we have seen that APS are
struggling to cope with COVID-19 as several parents struggle to pay tuition
fees. In the post COVID world, APS will focus more on building infrastructure
for digital education. The resumption of “brick and mortar” or traditional
offline teaching will take place with adequate social distancing norms. It is
likely that a shift-based education system will be introduced.
The role of digitization and technology in education
today – what is the level of preparedness of APS? What are their common
problems?
Jacob: As a lot of APS are struggling to stay afloat due to
the pandemic, there has a general resistance to change and technology. APS are
faced with various challenges concerning digitization. Firstly, the school
administration does not have enough knowledge about technology and its uses for
education. They are apprehensive of deploying technology for education as they
do not want to incur high costs. A lot of the schools believe that the pandemic
will not last long, so they are hesitant to invest in a short-term problem.
Another problem faced by APS is the fact that the majority of the teachers are
still adjusting to the new normal of imparting knowledge through electronic
devices like computers, smartphones and tablets. Teachers doubt the
effectiveness of online education versus traditional face to face teaching. APS
also face issues from an infrastructure point of view, like the availability of
hardware and internet connectivity.
Are teachers in APS well equipped to handle the shift in
teaching online? What kinds of training for skill development is required?
Jacob: Teachers in APS are not well equipped enough to
handle the shift in teaching online. They require soft skills training to get
them acclimatized to the new normal. Teachers are faced with the challenge of
controlling a classroom remotely and holding the attention of students.
Teaching complex subjects online is difficult for them especially when
interactive sessions online are often interrupted for connectivity related
issues.
Teachers are used to quizzing students on current topics being covered and penalizing students in case of non-attention or bad behaviour. Due to remote teaching, these measures are often not possible. Teachers are also unable to take “surprise tests” or on spot exams to evaluate their students’ progress. A lot of the teachers we have spoken to also say that they are struggling to juggle their professional and personal lives, as online lessons from home have distorted school timings.
Click here to read the full article on “Higher Education Digest”
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