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<ul><li>Students are counting on online teaching for competitive exams — JEE, NEET, GATE, SSC and banking exams, showed a survey by education platform Gradeup. </li><li>Live classes enabled the students to interact with co-learners and teachers along with instant resolutions to their queries. </li><li>Online education industry is expected to hit 9.6 million by 2021 user base, which was 1.6 million in 2016, as per a KPMG report. </li></ul>Indian students seem to favour online training programmes over classroom coaching, thanks to live sessions and easy accessibility. Students are counting on <a href="https://www.business-standard.com/article/pti-stories/students-prefer-online-coaching-for-competitive-exams-than-offline-classes-survey-119062500448_1.html">online teaching for competitive exams</a> — JEE, NEET, GATE, SSC and banking exams, as per a survey by education platform Gradeup. As many as 90% of the respondents prefer to take <keyword id="4666000" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Online-Coaching">online coaching</keyword>. Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana have the maximum share of students opting for them. This trend can be attributed to the growing participation in live sessions and recorded lectures, thereby making it convenient for students to study from home. "‘Gradeup Classroom - Live Classes’ has been able to bridge several gaps pertaining to students’ exam preparation, with measurable outcomes; expert teachers, structured study plans &amp; instant student-teacher interaction. This has enhanced the overall learning experience with more interactive learning," Shobhit Bhatnagar, Co-Founder, Gradeup told Business Insider. Live classes enabled students to interact with co-learners and teachers along with instant resolution to queries. In fact, nearly 20% of the students are willing to shell out more money to benefit from online sessions. "This has had a significant impact on students in Tier 3 and Tier 4 cities. While they may have limited access to coaching centers or find that the fees are out of reach, with online live classes, they now have access to the best teachers and courses wherever they are," Bhatnagar added. For instance, Vedantu, an online tutoring platform is working on providing a personalised experience to its students with the help of Artificial Intelligence tools. The platform has live teachers to explain concepts. “It’s like an audio-visual whiteboard which allows space for interactive learning and teaching at the same time,” Anand Prakash, Co-Founder <a href="https://www.thebetterindia.com/186160/iit-live-tutoring-jee-students-online-education/">told</a> The Better India. The larger picture Technology has revolutionized India’s education sector. “Students are using these self-learning applications along with their regular studies. Times are changing, so is the learning style of the kids,” Sangeeta Singh, Principal Delhi Public School <a href="https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/bathinda/trend-of-online-coaching-catches-fancy-of-students/790969.html">told</a> The Tribune. Online education platforms including <keyword id="1998561" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Internshala">Internshala</keyword>, Byju’s and Coursera have transformed the e-learning space in India. Overall, the user base of the online education industry is expected to hit 9.6 million by 2021, which was 1.6 million in 2016, as per a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/most-demanded-skiils-by-employers-in-india/articleshow/69085603.cms">KPMG report</a>. The scope of online training is not limited to school and competitive exam coachings. Given the need to adapt to the changing skill demand in the job market, online training has helped job seekers learn new skills. See also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/most-demanded-skiils-by-employers-in-india/articleshow/69085603.cms">These are the most popular e-learning subjects for millenials</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/internships-in-india-on-the-rise-with-startups-leading-the-way/articleshow/67655265.cms">India sees steep rise in internships across different industries as young graduates seek more skills: survey</a>

Indian students prefer online coaching to offline classes

<ul><li>According to the latest report by jobs portal Naukri.com, <keyword id="2055603" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="online-tutors" source="Orion">online tutors</keyword> are in high demand as recruiters want a workforce comfortable with using digital media.</li><li>During the second wave of the pandemic, the overall job market for the education/teaching profession saw a decline, as per the report.</li><li>Business Insider brings you several job openings in edtech companies for online tutors.</li></ul>The COVID-19 pandemic forced almost all educational institutions to pivot to the online mode of teaching. According to the latest report by jobs portal Naukri.com, online tutors are in high demand as recruiters want a workforce comfortable with using digital media. The requirement for online teachers has gone up by eight times in January to July 2021 as compared to the same period in 2020. During the second wave of the pandemic, the overall job market for the education/teaching profession saw a decline, as per the report. However, there is a recovery with an upward growth trajectory from June 2021 onwards with robust sequential growth, revealed the report. Business Insider brings you several job openings in edtech companies for online tutors. 1. <keyword id="3395125" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Cuemath" source="Orion">Cuemath</keyword> The online platform for after-school math and coding for classes K-12 is hiring online tutors for math and coding. Requirements — Candidates must have a laptop/desktop with Windows 10 OS or Mac and a stable internet connection with speed of more than 15 mbps. Eligibility criteria for Math — Applicants must have done Bachelor’s or Master’s in Technology (B.Tech or M.Tech)/Bachelor’s or Master’s in Engineering (B.E or M.E)/Bachelor’s or Master’s of Business Administration (BBA or MBA). Eligibility criteria for Coding — Any bachelor’s degree with basic knowledge of coding concepts. Freshers can also apply. 2. <keyword id="6361651" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Toppr" source="Orion">Toppr</keyword> Home-grown edtech platform for preparation of school exams, CBSE and competitive exams like Joint Entrance Examination (JEE), National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) etc. is scouting online tutors for these subjects — Biology, Chemistry, Hindi, English. Eligibility criteria — Candidates must hold a master’s or PhD in a relevant subject they are applying for. 3. Codingal The startup, which was launched last year is looking for teachers who have the right expertise to teach coding to young kids. Requirements — Laptop/desktop with a stable internet connection. Eligibility Criteria — Candidates should be from coding background or have a degree in computer science. 4. Aakash Edutech Institute Aakash Edutech by <keyword id="190117" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Aakash-Institute" source="Orion">Aakash Institute</keyword>, known for the preparation of JEE, NEET and other competitive exams is hiring online faculty for Mathematics. Selection Procedure — An online written test will be conducted along with demo round discussion and final round discussion. Eligibility criteria — Candidates must have at least 2 years of experience in teaching in online/offline mode. 5. INSAID E-learning platform, which offers courses related to artificial intelligence, machine learning and data science is inviting Data Science Trainer. Eligibility criteria — The candidate must have 2-5 years of experience in technical training with strong command over any one programming language -- Python, R, .NET, Java. 6. Chegg The global e-learning platform is scouting for Subject Matter Expert — Mathematics. Eligibility criteria — Candidate must have an M.Sc in mathematics or applied mathematics with strong knowledge of the subject. Freshers can also apply. 7. Jigsaw Academy The Bengaluru-based platform for artificial intelligence, machine learning and data science is hiring an information technology (IT) training manager. Eligibility criteria — Candidate should have 4-12 years of experience in IT industry or teaching IT-related subjects along with a degree in B.Tech/BE/MCA/MBA/MSc IT/M. Tech. 8.Camp K12 The ed-tech startup, which offers courses in coding for kids, is scouting for a Coding Instructor. Eligibility criteria — Minimum 6 months of experience in teaching coding with strong hold on HTML, Javascript, Python. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/telecom/news/vils-balancesheet-woes-may-impact-financial-lenders-others-govt-support-critical-says-icra/articleshow/85979050.cms">Vodafone Idea's stressed balance sheet could impact lenders, employees and subscribers, says ICRA</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/finance/banks/news/axis-bank-announces-new-policies-and-practices-for-its-customers/articleshow/85978495.cms">Axis Bank announces new policies and practices for its customers and employees belonging to the LGBTQ community</a>

Cuemath, Toppr, Aakash Institute and many more are looking for online tutors

For ages, <keyword id="19907717" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="education" source="keywords">education</keyword> has looked just about the same. You have a teacher hunched over a board with chalk, scribbling and lecturing away to a group of students. The pupils are neatly gathered around in front of the teacher; the attentive ones typically seated at the front while the delinquents loiter around the back. Then came the COVID-19 lockdowns, forcing institutes to render their educational services online. While the title of a ‘backbencher’ might have briefly disappeared due to the recent pandemic, the concept of <keyword id="21072209" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="distance-learning" source="keywords">distance learning</keyword> has only found more credence in recent times. The popularity of this new mode of education has exploded due to many reasons, such as its flexibility of class timings, accessibility for students living in remote regions, nationwide improvements in internet infrastructure, reduced social anxiety in students and more. But this also begs the question: are distance learning colleges like the Indira Gandhi National Open University worth it? <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="How valid are distance learning degrees?" comment="subhead" text="How valid are distance learning degrees?">How valid are distance learning degrees?</cmsannotation> Very much. In 2017-2018, the University Grants Commission — India’s main educational body regulating <keyword id="6375224" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="higher-education" source="Orion">higher education</keyword> — released a <a href="https://deb.ugc.ac.in/pdf/Equivalence%20of%20education%20degree.pdf" data-type="tilCustomLink">notification</a> decreeing that degrees, diplomas or certificates awarded through open or distance modes are equivalent to those acquired through the traditional universities and institutions in the country. This means that these degrees can be used to pursue <keyword id="6355127" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="employment" source="Orion">employment</keyword> or further education as well. However, it is also important to note that certain programmes that require hands-on training may not be available through open and distance learning. This includes some programmes in engineering, medicine, dental, pharmacy, nursing, architecture, physiotherapy, and a few other courses. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Are online degrees as valuable as traditional ones?" comment="subhead" text="Are online degrees as valuable as traditional ones?">Are online degrees as valuable as traditional ones?</cmsannotation> Yes, for the most part. On paper, online degrees hold the same value as offline ones, provided they come from institutes accredited by the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC). However, just like some degrees from some brick-and-mortar educational institutions might be more prestigious than others, the same applies to degrees from online institutes. The Ministry of Education has been considering adding a new category for open and distance universities under the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) to assess the quality of education among such colleges. While the degrees might seem equivalent on paper, some concern that employers might discriminate against distance learning passouts. However, earlier <a href="https://dergipark.org.tr/en/download/article-file/156658" data-type="tilCustomLink">studies</a> have shown that most <keyword id="19897096" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="IGNOU" source="keywords">IGNOU</keyword> graduates successfully landed a job soon after completing their course, and only a minimal number of candidates faced discriminatory behaviour from recruiters. In addition, many notable personalities and IAS/IFS/IPS officers have completed several courses from online institutes, such as the former Indian Army Chief, General Deepak Kapoor. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Are online universities cheaper?" comment="subhead" text="Are online universities cheaper?">Are online universities cheaper?</cmsannotation> Online institutes are far cheaper compared to traditional colleges, mostly due to the high costs of running a physical educational facility. For example, an online MBA degree currently costs 1.95 lakhs for the entire course from Amity University, while a single semester can cost almost 4 lakhs from their offline Business School. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="What are some of the challenges of online learning?" comment="subhead" text="What are some of the challenges of online learning?">What are some of the challenges of online learning?</cmsannotation> While digital literacy and a stable access to reliable internet connection and technology might be the obvious challenges for online learners, retaining the motivation to attend classes and participate regularly in the curriculum is a lesser-known hurdle. Additionally, since students miss out on face-to-face interactions with peers and professors, distance learners can end up feeling disconnected and lonely. Further, some students may find it challenging to access support services like counselling, tutoring, or academic advising in an online format, affecting their overall academic experience. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Which are some popular institutes offering accredited online and distance degrees?" comment="subhead" text="Which are some popular institutes offering accredited online and distance degrees?">Which are some popular institutes offering accredited online and distance degrees?</cmsannotation> Some renowned online universities include IGNOU, Manipal University, Amity University, VIT, NMIMS, JNU, Symbiosis, Mysore University and Jain University. The full list of UGC-accredited universities can be accessed <a href="https://deb.ugc.ac.in/pdf/Additionallist_of_Entitled_HEI_19052022.pdf" data-type="tilCustomLink">here</a>.

Should you enrol your child in an online university like IGNOU?

LingumiToby Mather, founder and CEO of Lingumi<ul class="summary-list"><li>Edtech startup Lingumi is an online learning platform for teaching English to toddlers.</li><li>It is backed by China's North Summit Capital and was once targeted by Chinese scammers thanks to the high demand for English tutoring in Asia.</li><li>The startup says it's now seeing unexpected interest in Western Europe, as locked-down families find ways to teach toddlers </li><li>"We're hiring aggressively and scaling up," Toby Mather, cofounder and CEO of Lingumi told Business Insider in an interview. "Parents are realizing the importance of their children learning English, and we believe that technology can radically improve the core teaching experience." </li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/prime?module=article&amp;area=summary">Click here for more BI Prime stories</a>.</li></ul>UK education startup Lingumi has been booming in China and elsewhere as the coronavirus lockdown forces parents to explore online learning resources for children. Lingumi is an English-language learning platform for children aged between two and six years old, and was built out of the UK. It is jointly headquartered in Cardiff and London.With schools across China and Europe now closed as a result of the coronavirus, the startup says demand has been increasing. "China is by far our most popular market, and our user base has doubled there over the past two months," Toby Mather, cofounder and CEO of Lingumi told Business Insider in an interview.<h2>English tutoring is in high demand in Asia</h2><a href="http://www.iresearchchina.com/content/details7_53029.html">According to iResearch</a>, the size of the online youth English training market in China is around 1.97 billion RMB ($280 million) with an annual growth of 45.4%. With the Chinese population growing, it's projected to become a 5 billion RMB ($707 million) market in the next two years.Around 50% of Lingumi users are based in mainland China. The company's userbase is more than 100,000 families according to Mather, with 40% of active users using the service daily as lockdown keeps people inside."Our market is any family with a toddler and access to the internet, so about 300 million families," Mather added. "In China alone, where we currently teach kids a foundation in spoken English, we're targeting about 60 million families who are in the right middle-income brackets to be able to afford Lingumi."Such was the early popularity of Lingumi in the region that Chinese scammers stole access to the app via an API and sold its lessons on the Chinese equivalent of eBay for a fraction of the price. Chinese users pay approximately £120 ($146) for a full course of lessons. Lingumi says its data wasn't impacted, but the team worked with investors in China to make it harder for lessons to be sold on by scammers.<h2>European parents are signing up to Lingumi thanks to nursery closures</h2>The company says it is also seeing growing popularity outside its major target market as parents try to educate and entertain their kids at home.With much of Western Europe on lockdown, parents have been accessing Lingumi in the UK to teach their children while daycare remains unavailable."Our mission is to bring the world's best teaching experience to pre-school children, through technology," Mather said. "For us, it goes beyond teaching English - we want children to meet their first teachers, and build foundations in key skills, on Lingumi, before they reach their first offline classrooms."Lingumi was approached for funding at the start of the year by North Summit Capital, an Asian fund recently set up by former VP of Alibaba Cloud Wanli Min. The funding process saw Lingumi's management team spend two full days in Shenzen for due diligence after meeting Min in summer 2019. Min saw the potential for the firm in Asia, where demand for English-language tutoring is high.The company has raised $6.6 million to-date, and other investors include LocalGlobe, Entrepreneur First, and ADV. "We're hiring aggressively and scaling up," Mather said. "Parents are realizing the importance of their children learning English, and we believe that technology can radically improve the core teaching experience."Lingumi says it plans to scale its offerings in the coming weeks as demand increases.Ad space on Facebook and other sites has become cheaper in recent weeks as major advertisers consider their budgets, according to Mather, meaning the startup is going to take the opportunity to buy cheap targeted ads.Do you have a personal experience with the coronavirus you'd like to share? Or a tip on how your town or community is handling the pandemic? Please email <a href="mailto:covidtips@businessinsider.com">covidtips@businessinsider.com</a> and tell us your story. <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/bidets-better-than-using-just-toilet-paper-2019-9">Why bidets are better than buying countless rolls of toilet paper</a></h3>

A startup popular in China for teaching toddlers English says it's seeing a spike in interest from locked-down nations

At a time when <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Byju-opens-up-about-meeting-Chan-Zuckerberg-initiative-international-plans-and-how-he-chooses-teachers-for-the-app-/articleshow/54250709.cms">Ed-tech firms</a> are eyeing investments to scale up, <keyword id="6354576" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Facebook">Facebook</keyword> pumped $50 Million into a <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/interview-byju-zuckerberg-chan-india-2016-9?IR=T">Bangalore Ed-Tech startup </a><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/interview-byju-zuckerberg-chan-india-2016-9?IR=T">Byjus</a><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/interview-byju-zuckerberg-chan-india-2016-9?IR=T"> </a>earlier this year making it clear that the social networking giant saw growth and development of startups working in the education sector in India. 
 It has further emboldened its belief by now investing in a tutor enablement platform, <keyword id="3951789" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="XPrep">XPrep</keyword>, under its global programme, FBStart. 
 <keyword id="3905190" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="FbStart-programme">FBStart programme</keyword> is helping early stage mobile startups in growing and expanding services. Xprep has received $40,000 worth of credits and services from Facebook and its partners like AWS, <keyword id="285445" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Dropbox">Dropbox</keyword>, Adobe and MailChimp. It has also earned access to a community of developers and mentorship from the Menlo Park-headquartered team of FB engineers. 
 Taking a cue from the hardships faced during their coaching days, IIT Roorkee alumnus <keyword id="3952423" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="mukul-rustagi">Mukul Rustagi</keyword> and NSIT alumnus Bhaswat Agarwal decided to start XPrep in September 2015. It was also one of the finalists of this year’s Unitus Seed Fund and Sylvant Advisors’ StartEdu programme. 
 
The platform is as of now trying to fill the gap within the tutor-parent community by establishing a continual and seamless engagement within the student-parent-tutor ecosystem. 
 
It is enabling parents to monitor their child’s progress during the course of tuition while helping tutors serve their batches efficiently and scale their business. XPrep equips its tutors with a mobile app to assist them in conducting their classroom and communicating with the parents in a transparent manner, all at their fingertips. The mobile app lets tutors perform daily tasks like sending out announcements, conducting their quizzes and notifying their classes using the app’s automation techniques. 
 
Mukul Rustagi, CEO, XPrep, says, “There lies a huge opportunity in supplementing the assistance based offline education system using online technologies. We have to provide the kids with the best of both worlds. Paying customers are a testimony to our product and we aim to build better going ahead. FBStart is going to help us achieve this goal faster. ” 
 
Mukul added that FBStart will help them bring down technology costs considerably. “This money can then be redirected to our marketing and team building activities which will, in turn, help us embark on a higher growth trajectory,” he said. 
 
XPrep has acquired a base of 100+ tutors and 6,000+ students across Delhi NCR and plans to expand to other cities soon. "Enabling tutors to increase their efficiencies, scale up their business and monetising the incremental delta of the customer experience while catering to the fulfilment feeling among the parents" - This is the vision that XPrep aims to achieve over the next few months. 
 
We hope they achieve much more than what they have set out for.

Meet the Team Behind XPrep, the Young Ed-Tech Firm which just got funded by Facebook

<keyword id="6355629" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Google">Google</keyword> CEO <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Leadership-lessons-from-Google-CEO-Sundar-Pichai/articleshow/51508200.cms">Sundar Pichai</a> is in India to launch a new initiative for the small and medium businesses, Digital Unlocked. With this initiative Google is looking to help SMBs get digital presence. 
 The initiative will be in partnership with industry body <keyword id="6355001" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="FICCI">FICCI</keyword> and management school ISB where SMBs would get digital skill training through video tutoring, classroom training and mobile courses for offline, online and mobile presence of small businesses. 
 
Pichai's visit to India this time is mainly focused on small and medium businesses in the country. With this initiative, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Everything-you-need-to-know-about-Googles-new-CEO-Sundar-Pichai/articleshow/48430267.cms">Google </a>hopes to reach thousands of businesses around the country. Since it's designed for India, SMBs can use the program grow their digital presence not just in English but nine Indian languages including Hindi, Telugu and Marathi. 
 
Alongside Digital Unlocked, Google also launched Primer, an app to teach SMBs skills to grow. Primer works offline and is now available for download on Play Store for free. This app will help SMBs to move from a basic digital presence to an advance one. 
 
During this visit, Pichai will also be addressing college students at <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/googles-sundar-pichai-is-in-india-and-here-are-the-details-of-his-itinerary/articleshow/56215301.cms">IIT Kharagpur </a>where he got his engineering degree in 1993. He will interact with students, something that's core to most of Pichai's trip to India.

Google CEO Sundar Pichai unlocks digital initiative for small and medium businesses in India

<ul><li>The time following the <keyword id="91743" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="lockdown">lockdown</keyword> has been difficult for the <keyword id="550921" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="stationary">stationary</keyword> industry, since educational institutes and offices have remained closed. </li><li><keyword id="477533" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Tanveer-Khan">Tanveer Khan</keyword>, Director, Marketing at <keyword id="6330680" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="BIC-Cello">BIC Cello</keyword> India tells us how the brand has been making smart portfolio choices and focusing on expanding its presence online to ensure its products can reach it consumers, at home.</li></ul>Last year, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi first announced the lockdown, none of us would have thought that we would still be dealing with the pandemic, more than a year later. The last one year has been challenging for businesses across segments and the stationery segment is no different. With the closure of schools, colleges and offices, and the rapid digitalization of courses, the industry was hit hard. According to Technavio, the global <keyword id="11135608" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="consumer-stationery-retailing">consumer stationery retailing</keyword> market is expected to grow by $6.35 billion during 2020-2024. However, according to experts in India, the industry has witnessed a decline of around 35%, owing to the closure of educational institutions across the country. During a normal year, the industry witnesses a peak in demand during the months that schools re-open, the beginning of financial years and even during the festive months. However, last year things were subdued and despite the hope that this year will be better, the increasing Covid numbers tell us that we are still a substantial amount of time away from normalcy. So how is BIC Cello, a prominent player in the stationary segment dealing with the situation? We spoke to Tanveer Khan, Director, Marketing at BIC Cello India, to find some answers. Excerpts: <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Q) With students not going to school for close to a year now, how have things changed for you as a brand?" text="Q) With students not going to school for close to a year now, how have things changed for you as a brand?">Q) With students not going to school for close to a year now, how have things changed for you as a brand?</cmsannotation> The interim closure of educational institutions has not only impacted the education sector but other ancillary businesses including the stationery segment. The industry witnessed a decline of approx. 35% in 2020 versus 2019 in Traditional Trade sales. We also noticed a similar trend for our core business i.e., writing instruments. However, because of growing internet penetration and shift to digital mediums, we registered an increase in demand for our writing instruments, arts and craft product segments on all key e-commerce platforms. From a business standpoint, we anticipate recovery in traditional trade in the second half of 2021 with gradual opening of schools, colleges and offices. Overall, with an increased focus on education and a growing young population, the outlook remains strong for the stationery segment in India. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Q) Did you have to completely rethink how you approached consumers in the last one year and increase more presence online rather than offline?" text="Q) Did you have to completely rethink how you approached consumers in the last one year and increase more presence online rather than offline?">Q) Did you have to completely rethink how you approached consumers in the last one year and increase more presence online rather than offline?</cmsannotation> The biggest takeaway for us from 2020 was the importance of having a balanced portfolio that reaches consumers through multiple channels. Building a robust omni-channel presence which leverages our full portfolio has been part of BIC Cello’s strategy and 2020 only accelerated our actions in this direction. We increased our investments substantially to engage with e-commerce consumers last year. We will continue to focus on strengthening our omni-channel marketing this year and provide consumers with a seamless experience no matter where they are. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Q) Schools, colleges, and offices being shut also meant both children and adults had more time at home. Did you see that result in an increased demand for certain segments of products for you, like DIY, arts and crafts etc?" text="Q) Schools, colleges, and offices being shut also meant both children and adults had more time at home. Did you see that result in an increased demand for certain segments of products for you, like DIY, arts and crafts etc?">Q) Schools, colleges, and offices being shut also meant both children and adults had more time at home. Did you see that result in an increased demand for certain segments of products for you, like DIY, arts and crafts etc?</cmsannotation> The pandemic and the resultant lockdown have been difficult for everyone. More so for parents, who have been scrambling for resources to keep their kids engaged in productive activities. As part of a recent survey that we had conducted in December 2020, we found that the average spending on school supplies shot up from Rs 8,000 to 20,000 or more, primarily due to investment in electronic items, while a significant dip of Rs 5,000 seen in stationery. Staying at home has given children time to pause, refuel and spend quality time with their parents. They are expressing themselves creatively through offline activities, such as colouring and drawing along with their parents. An interesting trend to note here is that colouring was not only limited to younger kids, but children across all ages and a segment of adult audience also took to colouring to engage themselves. At BIC Cello, we are proud to provide families and children with essential tools they need for learning, working and self-expression, and we hope we can continue to help spark a little joy and imagination during these difficult times. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Q) What has your strategy in 2021 been, in terms of ensuring that the business impact of another lockdown like this is minimal?" text="Q) What has your strategy in 2021 been, in terms of ensuring that the business impact of another lockdown like this is minimal?">Q) What has your strategy in 2021 been, in terms of ensuring that the business impact of another lockdown like this is minimal?</cmsannotation> We have been able to accelerate growth in our arts and colouring segment along with e-commerce business. We turned to moment marketing and trending conversations to get our message across our audiences. 2020 was all about molding the brand to create relevant conversations around different occasions to engage our consumers. For instance, we created content on our colouring range – ColourUp on digital and social platforms, giving a chance for our audience to engage with the brand from the comfort of their homes. We also shared topical content and provided people with ideas on how to keep children busy by giving wings to their imagination with our art and craft range. We teamed up with Disney’s ‘Imagine That’ last year, where Harun Robert, who is popularly known as Rob, (anchor) showed children interesting and exciting ways to create things creatively with Cello ColourUp Colouring range. Having said this, we have been working towards building a robust e-commerce portfolio by introducing new products across segments. Lastly, we have been monitoring the situation on-ground and working with our trade partners in ensure right assortment availability across channels. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Q) What has your broader marketing strategy been? How have you made sure you come to your consumer's minds whenever they think stationery?" text="Q) What has your broader marketing strategy been? How have you made sure you come to your consumer's minds whenever they think stationery?">Q) What has your broader marketing strategy been? How have you made sure you come to your consumer's minds whenever they think stationery?</cmsannotation> At BIC Cello, our marketing strategies have been simple. We want our products and our communication to connect and resonate with our consumers. To be able to achieve this, we follow a two-pronged approach: Segment Focus –Our robust portfolio has a wide range of stationery products which include ball pens, gel pens, fountain pens, roller pens, permanent markers, whiteboard markers, colour markers, office &amp; school stationery, and diverse coloring range which we launched recently. Product innovation and a diverse portfolio that answers consumer needs are key to building a strong brand. BIC-Cello products play a key role in the development of students’ intellect and creativity. We engage with our consumers on key occasions such as exam time, summer break, back to school, etc. to help them develop their skills and creativity. While we are market leaders in the pen segment, we will continue to develop &amp; expand our colouring and marking range to strengthen the Joy Of Expression. Channel Focus– Trade: When it comes to trade channels, we aim to Build a robust omni-channel presence which leverages our portfolio. This involves innovating and promoting the right assortment with the right visibility across all channels like Traditional Trade, Modern Mass, eCom, etc. Media: We command the highest level of consumer awareness in the stationery segment which is a reflection of our ability to smartly use various media channels. We choose media channels as per the objective of the activity we want to carry out. We use mass media channels, like TV, outdoor, etc., for generating awareness for new products/segments. We use digital channels, to increase our brand consideration and engage with consumers in a meaningful way throughout the year. Content Focus -Strong engagement is driven by integrating meaningful content &amp; product performance. For example, for Cello ColourUp colouring range, our social handles push a lot of content around unique ways to engage &amp; inspire children through DIY activities. We focus on educating consumers on the importance of creating the right environment for children, using crayonsto spur creativity and improve motor skills, that will fuel their cognitive development. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Q) How have consumer preferences evolved and how have you as a brand made sure you could adapt to these changes?" text="Q) How have consumer preferences evolved and how have you as a brand made sure you could adapt to these changes?">Q) How have consumer preferences evolved and how have you as a brand made sure you could adapt to these changes?</cmsannotation> We observed radical shifts in consumer behavior last year. To understand the changes better, we conducted an in-depth survey across India to assess the impact of the pandemic on parents and their children’s education. The survey results revealed interesting insights on how Indian parents coped up with their new role as home-tutors as well as their key concerns right from increased costs of school supplies to managing children's screen time.Staying at home gave parents a lot of quality time to spend with their children. A large fraction of parents admitted that screen time has significantly increased for their kids and that they were trying to engage their children more with offline activities, such as coloring, to help them express their creativity. Additionally, the rise in digital content and influencer marketing around stationery products has led to more awareness and understanding of exciting options available in the market. Gone are the days where stationery was viewed as a functional and low involvement category. Today, our audiences are choosing stationery as a style and personality statement and are open to experimentation with brands of high price-points. Therefore, our focus is to further develop our digital footprint and continuously engage with our audience, to further ideas on learning &amp; creativity using our stationery range. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Q) What kind of investments are you thinking of making this year on marketing?" text="Q) What kind of investments are you thinking of making this year on marketing?">Q) What kind of investments are you thinking of making this year on marketing?</cmsannotation> At BIC Cello, our media channel investment has always been a healthy mix of TV, print, outdoor,online and digital mediums. Because of the impact of COVID-19 and subsequent lockdowns, we have calibrated our media investments vs previous years, we will move away from outdoor spends such as billboards, metro and bus station advertising and switch to channels to reach our consumers at home. The pandemic has impacted consumer sentiments negatively, it has set the base for creating inspiring, meaningful and purpose-led communication with consumers. Our communication approach is to make more creative and engaging content which will allow us to make deeper connections with our consumers. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Q) Going ahead, what will your key focus areas be to make sure you are able to capture a larger market share?" text="Q) Going ahead, what will your key focus areas be to make sure you are able to capture a larger market share?">Q) Going ahead, what will your key focus areas be to make sure you are able to capture a larger market share?</cmsannotation> We believe our omni-channel approach, supported by meaningful portfolio choices, will help us gain share. We are the leaders in the pens segment, and we aim to expand our leadership to other stationery segments. Consumers have adopted digital as a communication channel and e-commerce as a preferred channel for purchase. These will continue to be a key focus area. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Q) In the global scheme of things, how important is the Indian market for BIC Cello and what kind of investments can we expect in the country?" text="Q) In the global scheme of things, how important is the Indian market for BIC Cello and what kind of investments can we expect in the country?">Q) In the global scheme of things, how important is the Indian market for BIC Cello and what kind of investments can we expect in the country?</cmsannotation> India is a critical and exciting market for us at BIC. India’s growing education sector offers tremendous growth potential for the local stationery market. India has nearly 300 million students, which is equivalent to a country altogether. These includes school-going children, graduate and post-graduate students using stationery equipment. The increasing number of schools and offices, coupled with improved standard of living, will result in more people purchasing stationery products and it will aid the shift from buying cheap poor performing stationery products to higher priced good quality products. With impetus by the Government of India through policies like National Policy on Education and Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, I can firmly say that this sector will see a sustained growth in the coming years. BIC Cello will continue to build in market capabilities in India, we are evaluating enhanced levels of investments behind both customers and the consumers.

How BIC Cello is focusing on omni-channel marketing and meaningful portfolio choices to gain market share

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image">Joe Raedle/Getty ImagesCarol McMullen-Pettit, a Premier Tutor at The Princeton Review, (L) goes over SAT test preparation with 11th grader, Suzane Nazir, on March 6, 2014 in Pembroke Pines, Florida.</div></div></div>Asian families living in the US are almost twice as likely to be charged higher prices by college test prep service The Princeton Review, <a href="http://www.propublica.org/article/asians-nearly-twice-as-likely-to-get-higher-price-from-princeton-review">according to a new study from ProPublica</a>.The Princeton Review determines pricing based on a potential customer's ZIP code. As ProPublica notes, there is a nearly $2,000 difference in the highest and lowest prices for the Princeton Review "Premiere" SAT prep course, the company's most expensive tutoring service."When it came to getting the highest prices, living in a ZIP code with a high median income or a large Asian population seemed to make the greatest difference," according to ProPublica reporters by Julia Angwin, Surya Mattu, and Jeff Larson. "Customers in areas with a high density of Asian residents were 1.8 times as likely to be offered higher prices, regardless of income."High-income ZIP codes were twice as likely to be charged a more expensive price, according to ProPublica, although this was not always the case. The report noted that "affluent neighborhoods in Dallas are charged the lowest price, $6,600."ProPublica found several low-income areas with large Asian populations that were charged Princeton Review's higher prices."Consider a ZIP code in Flushing, a neighborhood in Queens, New York. Asians make up 70.5% of the population in this ZIP code. According to the US Census, the median household income in the ZIP code, $41,884, is lower than most, yet The Princeton Review customers there are quoted the highest price," according to ProPublica.Another example cited by ProPublica is "the gritty industrial city of Westminster, California," where half the residents are Asian with a below average median income, but are charged Princeton Review's second-highest price.A Princeton Review spokesperson emphasized to Business Insider that the company uses ZIP codes to determine pricing because "95% of our tutoring is all in person." The other 5% are also matched with local tutors, in case the student wants to meet in person, rather than over Skype or another form of online communication.Prices change among different geographic areas, the spokesperson said, due to differing costs of doing business and varying competitive markets for tutoring services.The Princeton Review <a href="https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/2318389/princeton-review-statement.pdf">sent ProPublica the following statement</a>:For each online test prep tutoring service in question, The Princeton Review offers four different prices, based entirely on the geographical region in which the product is offered. These geographical delineations are not drawn at the neighborhood level, but instead are entire cities, regions or states, where pricing is not determined by an algorithm, but by the differential costs of running our business and the competitive attributes of the given market. This is a ubiquitous practice across all commerce, both online and offline. For example, our product costs more in New York City and the surrounding area than it does anywhere else in the country, just as virtually every good or service does, be it gasoline, rent or eggs. No region is a perfect cross-section of the rest of the country, and the areas that experience higher prices will also have a disproportionately higher population of members of the financial services industry, people who tend to vote Democratic, journalists and any other group that is more heavily concentrated in areas like New York City than in the rest of the country at large. But to equate the incidental differences in impact that occur from this type of geographic based pricing that pervades all American commerce with discrimination misconstrues both the literal, legal and moral meaning of the word. <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/aerial-video-explosion-blast-site-tianjin-china-2015-8">New aerial footage shows aftermath of explosion in China</a></h3> <div> <div> <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="tkdzUxdzqidr5j3bDhTKNZS1v2q3Z4nZ" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div> </div> </div> </div>

The Princeton Review's pricing method has a terrible impact on Asians, study finds

According to an education survey conducted by HSBC, <a href="http://blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/minorityview/indian-parents-have-very-high-expectations-about-their-childrens-education-and-careers/">educating their children is the ultimate goal of 51% of Indian parents</a>. So, it is not surprising that education is the next front on the horizon of the entrepreneurial Indians leading to the emergence of many interesting edtech concepts. 
 Most of the <keyword id="2989202" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="edtech-startups">edtech startups</keyword> comprise faculty pool, <keyword id="6379645" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Online-education">online education</keyword> material and technology working in tandem. Most of them cater to various sections of the student community, ranging from schoolchildren to working professionals and budding entrepreneurs. 
 
While there is some focus on tuition for school-going children, others help in cracking entrance tests, and a few others focus on providing professional certification courses. Indian education system has come a long way from classroom education to redefining the way children are taught, and these edtech <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/topic/Startups">startups</a> are responsible for this revolution. 
 
<h3>
	<a href="http://www.embibe.com/">Embibe</a></h3>
Embibe is an online portal that consists of a team of entrepreneurs, who help students to get coaching for various entrance examinations like JEE, AIIMS, AIPMT, CET and many more. Founded by an ex-TCS employee, 33-year-old Aditi Avasthi, wanted to change the way students prepared for competitive exams. 
 
At present, Embibe boasts of over one million student users. Last year, this edtech venture raised $4 million from early-stage investor such as Kalaari Capital and Lightbox. 
 
<h3>
	<a href="http://www.careerguide.com/">CareerGuide</a></h3>
<h3>
	CareerGuide is an edtech platform targeted to provide answers to all the career related queries of an aspirant. They have a marketplace of renowned career experts from various fields and a student can connect instantly to get their query resolved.</h3>
How it is different than the other players? Well, Artificial Intelligence (AI) may be the answer. CareerGuide boasts of an AI-led algorithm that connects students with the best possible career guidance expert based on their query. Further, their psychometric assessments help students in figuring out their true aptitude, interest, motivation and personality to <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/6-Tips-To-Landing-A-Job-At-A-Startup/articleshow/27654867.cms">take informed career decisions</a>. CareerGuide has most definitely emerged as the one of the hottest names in the edtech business as of now. 
<h3>
	<a href="http://www.vedantu.com/">Vedantu</a></h3>
<h3>
	Looking for a personalised teaching while you sit at home? Vedantu, the live online tutoring edtech company, is conceptualized to bring personalization back into education where a teacher will teach according to the requirement, pace and level of a student and the student will interact with the teacher online.</h3>
The founders claimed the existing teaching system to be “institutionalized and generalized”, which quite possibly was the motivation behind this concept. 
 
According to Vamsi Krishna, cofounder and CEO, “The current system is teacher-centric and learning happens, predominantly, one-way. We want to change that.” 
 
Vedantu raised a $5 million from Accel Partners and Tiger Global Management last year in May. 
<h3>
	<a href="http://www.edukart.com/">EduKart</a></h3>
<h3>
	EduKart is an online entrance coaching site that caters to the needs of almost every individual. Apart from courses for high school students appearing for various competitive examinations, the company offers undergraduate and post graduate courses for everyone who seeks help in management, engineering, medical, civil services, business, Law, and various other interesting courses.</h3>
The startup acquired $1 million funding from Holostik Group’s United Finsec, Yuvraj Singh’s YouWeCan Ventures, 500 Startups, and a bunch of other investors in June ‘15. EduKart projected 5x growth for themselves last year. 
 
<a href="http://www.upgrad.com/">UpGrad</a> 
 
If you are a working professional and want to upgrade your skill set, UpGrad is the place for you to explore. This startup offers online higher education programs for working professionals. With a highly experienced faculty forming academia advisory board, this company provides one-to-one academic and non-academic support for all its students by providing them with live projects, case studies, group assignments, access to live lectures and interactive content and many more. 
 
“With UpGrad, we aim to revolutionise the online education industry by bringing credibility and scale. The response to our first course is a strong validation that we are on our way of achieving our vision,” said UpGrad founder Ronnie Screwvala. 
 
<h3>
	<a href="http://www.toppr.com/">Toppr</a></h3>
<h3>
	This super-interesting edtech firm focuses on giving training to students aspiring for IIT JEE, pre-medical and also the foundation courses (starting from class 8) for various competitive examinations. They provide the students with unlimited practice tests along with learning material and students’ doubts will be answered personally on live chat.</h3>
 
Till date, Toppr has raised $12.2 million in three funding rounds from four investors, such as Fidelity Growth Partners India, Helion Venture Partners, SAIF Partners, InnoVen Capital India and Powai Lake Ventures. 
<h3>
	<a href="http://www.wiziq.com/">WizIQ</a></h3>
<h3>
	WizIQ believes in delivering high impact online teaching and training through mobile apps by making virtual classrooms possible. Their online academy builder includes live classes, integrated cloud storage, mobile learning, tests and assignments and many other interesting features.</h3>
Hailed as the 'best virtual classroom provider' at the World Education Congress, one should expect a promising 2016 from WizIQ. 
 
<h3>
	<a href="http://www.iprofindia.com/">iProf India</a></h3>
<h3>
	iProf claims to be India's biggest Tablet PC based education content delivery company and digital education library that offers “smarter way” of studying through its advanced android based application that works on offline mode (without internet connection). Their USP is their content, which can be accessed both online and offline via pen drives, memory cards, tablet PCs in a secured and scalable environment.</h3>
iProf has raised $15 million in total funding through Series A &amp; B rounds from Daily Mail Group Information, IDG Ventures India and Norwest Venture Partners – NVP. 
 
In a nutshell 
 
The Indian edtech market is pegged at over $70 billion by 2017. The space breakup is estimated with higher education sector closing on 50 per cent, K12 at 40 per cent, and coaching/tutoring taking up 10 per cent. These emerging and <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Top-10-Indian-startups-that-are-going-places/articleshow/49090916.cms">successful startups</a> are surely creating an impact and are making their presence felt. Books cannot be updated real time but these start-up can push updates on an app and this can be distributed to millions with no incremental cost which makes edtech definitely one of the most exciting sectors in the Indian consumer market. The funding battleground could perhaps change the face of this sector as well. 
 
(The article has been authored by <a href="https://plus.google.com/+UtkarshSahu9?rel=author">Utkarsh Sahu</a>, a digital strategist with over three years of writing experience for business magazines, such as Business Insider, Huffington Post, Tech Radar, etc. He admires technology with paradigm-shifting attributes, and digital marketing, social media and content are his current beat. An analytics enthusiast, he likes to break down key performance drivers of a robust digital marketing campaign. You may connect with him on <a href="https://in.linkedin.com/in/utkarshsahu9">LinkedIn</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/UtkSahu">Twitter</a>.) 
 
(Image: Thinkstock)

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