India's online higher Tech ed and upskilling boom: Benchmarking new standards

India's online tech ed and upskilling industry is booming at a rate of 25.7% CAGR, driven by flexible learning, technology platforms, and policy support in the pipeline

 

The Indian online higher education and upskilling sector is witnessing an unprecedented boom with the market expected to reach INR 13,200 crore in FY 2023 (2022-2023 financial) to Rs.41,500 crore in FY 2028, revealed Technopak Advisors and ResearchAndMarkets.com reports. A huge 25.7 percent CAGR growth rate, as such, reflects the nationwide transition to industry and adaptive, easy education. Upskilling is the sole answer for the evolving job market of today. Data science and AI, digital marketing, etc. are the options at present, and during FY 2021, almost 7 out of every 10 online school admissions were booked by working professionals with a maximum of three years of work experience. Upskilling to stay relevant is the new cool thing to stay relevant to the job market.

 

Transforming India's EdTech ecosystem

India is being reshaped by education through corporate giants such as Jaro Education, UpGrad, Great Learning, Simplilearn, TalentEdge, and TimesPro. These are the companies who partner with top-ranked universities and recruit industry professionals, merging their strengths with new models of engagement and technologies to drive rapid growth and expanding student pools.

 

Jaro Education can be defined in terms of teamwork culture and vision strategy, in the competitive landscape. With its chain of 100 of the nation's top nationally ranked accredited institutions like IIM Ahmedabad, IIT Madras, and IIT Delhi, Jaro has established a brand name that can be trusted as a credible cross-roads between school success and student aspirations. Jaro is an unparalleled range and diversity with 239 programs being offered in 34 partner institutions all over the world. Jaro Education is the market leader having very good financial numbers with respect to high EBITDA and PAT with respect to high margins. It has been performing well and consistently good with respect to margins, and also it is the market leader insofar as margins are concerned with respect to other players like Imarticus, TimesPro and Intellipaat.

 

Why is upskilling important?

Industry experts concur with the need for upskilling. LinkedIn Chairman ASM Group of Institutes Dr. Sandeep Pachpande believes, "Upskilling is no longer a choice. With the changing workplace today, lifelong learning is the only way to be relevant." Edtech expert Rohan Joshi (@rohanjoshi) commented on X, "India's online upskilling market isn't just increasing—it's emerging to be the foundation for our next-gen talent. Those providing industry connect with academic seriousness will call the shots."

 

Government programmes like National Education Policy 2020, Digital India, and Skill India, and increased budgetary support are also bringing digital education within reach and making it inclusive. All these programmes are also empowering women and students of second-tier towns to enjoy quality education and upskilling. Other such government programs like the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, Digital India, and Skill India are being launched to make online education accessible and more inclusive in India and the world and changing the landscape. Online education integration at every level, specifically, has been one of the areas of emphasis for the NEP 2020 that demands that one must offer digital infrastructure, high-speed internet, and an access to digital devices to rural and urban students. Through technology-enabled education promotion, NEP 2020 has vision for why it needs to provide the digital divide so that students located in remote areas/small towns can utilize the quality study material and engaging contents devoid of geographic context.

 

The policy will also help create digital pedagogy, and there are professional teacher trainings to empower the teachers to utilize the digital tools to the best possible extent and get the students to think and solve problems. The direct impact of this policy emphasis is experience on such activities as PM eVidya and creation of digital repositories, virtual labs, and online course platforms. Flexible, competency-based, and customized learning pathway provided by NEP can be especially beneficial to women and marginalized group learners, otherwise limited access to mainstream schooling. Orientation to the future

 

Backed by growing government budgetary spending on education, the policies are not just democratizing education but also expanding it out to women and small-town students to access improved quality education and up-skilling opportunities that were not accessible earlier due to geography. This convergent approach is revolutionizing India's education culture and is getting society inclusive and resilient.