Indian Education Industry for Higher Education

The Indian Education industry is poised for growth. This sector is changing rapidly with more private players entering the field. The Government is also taking many measures to improve the quality of education in India. This industry is going to achieve its peak as the idea of business via education catches up. 

Fifty percent of India's population is the youth. This means that the Indian education sector is huge with a population of 1.13 billion. India has around 367 universities, 18,000 colleges, about half a million teachers, and 11 million pupils. The private education industry is estimated to be between 20,000–25,000 crore. There are about 1,500 management institutes, 3,500 engineering institutes and 1,200 medical colleges in the country.

With an increase in the average Indian household, more money is being kept aside for education purposes. Also, because of the initiatives of the government, more students are enrolling themselves for higher education. This means that more colleges are needed to cater to these students. Also, the demand for education is inflexible; that is, no matter what, the education sector is not going to collapse.

The demand for management education is rising. Many international management institutes are creating ties with Indian colleges or setting up their own centers in India.

There is immense scope in India for universities offering specialized courses and research potential. The R&D sector requires more expertise and quality professionals to cater to its design and needs.

Many foreign universities operate via the twinning mode as of now. This essentially means the collaborating institution can offer the curriculum of the other university in its first half. These students thus gain credits, which are transferable to the foreign university. This helps the students choose from an array of subjects and also complete a year in India itself.

E-learning and Distance learning programmes are also gaining popularity. Many students and working professionals are taking these courses to get a quality education. The drawing factors for these programmes are the world-class curriculum, comfort and low costs.

According to a research report by Ernst & Young, spending on higher education in India currently stands at Rs 46,200 crore. The growth rate for this education segment is projected at 12.8% and is expected to touch nearly Rs 150,000 crore in the coming decade, the report states. By comparison, currently the Indian population in the relevant age group to enroll into a higher education course is more than that of Europe, USA, Australia combined.

Graduation courses apart, even the pre-school segment is showing enough promise for the future. Market estimates the pre-school size to touch $1 billion by 2012, clocking a growth of over 3 % year-on-year. It is interesting to know the fact that education is the third largest expenditure group for an average Indian household.