Step into a neighborhood pre-school and you wouldn’t be able to relate any of what you see to your childhood memories. The swanky school office, the air-conditioned classrooms, and the expert teachers will amaze you. It will intimidate you but also welcome to the world of branded pre-schooling.
The pre-school market in India currently stands at around a whopping Rs. 394 crore. The last few years has seen a growth of almost 28.3% per annum. The new generation of pre-schools like Kangaroo kids, Euro kids and Globetrotters boast of a splendid infrastructure, well trained teachers and a fixed child teacher ratio. These professionally run pre-schools are replacing the humble balwadis in the urban towns.
Lina Ashar, Chairperson, Kangaroo Kids says, “When I first started out in 1993, there was no market for pre-schooling but today parents understand the importance of pre-schools.” Ashar feels that this change has been due the social and economic changes India has witnessed in the last decade. “Both the parents are working but they don’t want the child to be with maid, they prefer the kid to be at a pre-school with other kids,” believes Ashar.
The child is supposed to develop by 80% in the first five years of his life. The pre-schools in through their syllabus concentrate on developing the gross motor and fine motor skills of the child. The gross motor skills mean coordination of the limbs which developed by jumping and hopping while the fine motor skills are about finger eye coordination, hand to mouth coordination and so on.
All of this doesn’t come cheap. The average fees charged by these branded school is about Rs. 50, 000 per annum. But the parents don’t seem to be complaining too much. It is because maybe with both the parents working, the household income is almost double too. Kamal D’Mello who sends both her children to pre-school feels the fees is worth the expenditure. She says, “The teachers are very accessible and I can go and monitor my children anytime of the day.” However there are parents who feel that the fees is too high but they are still ready to spend that extra buck. “It is expensive, but then the syllabus is well researched and the kids get to do a lot of extra curricular activities too,” feels Karyn Felsinger whose two year old son goes to a branded pre-school.
And it is not only about educated upper middle class. The aspiration level of Indians is rising across the board. The business houses are eager to cater to every segment of the society that is ready to spend extra for his/her child’s education. Shri Krishna, CEO of Birla Edutech which also runs a pre-school chain called Globetrotters feels the want for a better future has percolated to lower levels of the society too. “Today, I don’t have a pre-school chain for the lower segment of the society but I would love to have it one day because now they have the ability to spend too,” he elaborates. Rajesh Bhatia, MD and CEO, Treehouse Education too feels, “Education has an aspiration value to it. Families in smaller towns also want the best for their kids.”
Maybe twenty years back, at two years a child would be just learning to walk and talk in the confines of his home but today this tiny toddler is not only on the way to realize a million dreams for his parents but also carries a burden of being a consumer of a multi-crore industry.
The pre-school market in India currently stands at around a whopping Rs. 394 crore. The last few years has seen a growth of almost 28.3% per annum. The new generation of pre-schools like Kangaroo kids, Euro kids and Globetrotters boast of a splendid infrastructure, well trained teachers and a fixed child teacher ratio. These professionally run pre-schools are replacing the humble balwadis in the urban towns.
Lina Ashar, Chairperson, Kangaroo Kids says, “When I first started out in 1993, there was no market for pre-schooling but today parents understand the importance of pre-schools.” Ashar feels that this change has been due the social and economic changes India has witnessed in the last decade. “Both the parents are working but they don’t want the child to be with maid, they prefer the kid to be at a pre-school with other kids,” believes Ashar.
The child is supposed to develop by 80% in the first five years of his life. The pre-schools in through their syllabus concentrate on developing the gross motor and fine motor skills of the child. The gross motor skills mean coordination of the limbs which developed by jumping and hopping while the fine motor skills are about finger eye coordination, hand to mouth coordination and so on.
All of this doesn’t come cheap. The average fees charged by these branded school is about Rs. 50, 000 per annum. But the parents don’t seem to be complaining too much. It is because maybe with both the parents working, the household income is almost double too. Kamal D’Mello who sends both her children to pre-school feels the fees is worth the expenditure. She says, “The teachers are very accessible and I can go and monitor my children anytime of the day.” However there are parents who feel that the fees is too high but they are still ready to spend that extra buck. “It is expensive, but then the syllabus is well researched and the kids get to do a lot of extra curricular activities too,” feels Karyn Felsinger whose two year old son goes to a branded pre-school.
And it is not only about educated upper middle class. The aspiration level of Indians is rising across the board. The business houses are eager to cater to every segment of the society that is ready to spend extra for his/her child’s education. Shri Krishna, CEO of Birla Edutech which also runs a pre-school chain called Globetrotters feels the want for a better future has percolated to lower levels of the society too. “Today, I don’t have a pre-school chain for the lower segment of the society but I would love to have it one day because now they have the ability to spend too,” he elaborates. Rajesh Bhatia, MD and CEO, Treehouse Education too feels, “Education has an aspiration value to it. Families in smaller towns also want the best for their kids.”
Maybe twenty years back, at two years a child would be just learning to walk and talk in the confines of his home but today this tiny toddler is not only on the way to realize a million dreams for his parents but also carries a burden of being a consumer of a multi-crore industry.
well-written., it's true that education comes with a value, aispirational as well as pricey
ReplyDeletewell researched article and a very informative too...
ReplyDeletegood job