Teachers Should Be Tech-Savvy: Vikram Ramasubramanian

Education is the most important part in people’s life as it helps you develop critical skills like decision-making, mental agility, problem-solving, and logical thinking. Recently, Entrepreneur India discussed this topic elaborately during the 'Education Innovation and Investment Summit 2023' organized in Bengaluru.

Personalities from various companies that have been working in the edtech space deliberated on “Why is it so difficult to bring technology into the field of education? What are the difficulties, especially in terms of investment?" The panellists who were present to share their views on the matter included Vinod Keni, Managing Partner, IAN Alpha Fund, Rajesh Raju, Managing Director, Kalaari Capital, Saina Denugara, Head, Trika Capital Family Office, and Vikram Ramasubramanian, Partner, Inflection Point Ventures.

Rajesh Raju, Managing Director, Kalaari Capital said that Kalaari is one of the first companies to invest in the education. He said, “Kalaari tied up with few companies when advertising education was not a thing. This was a major reason why we were able to take our business forward relatively quickly. Time is very important in business. If you start any business at the wrong time, you will not make much money. Like any other sector, Edtech sector has also seen both good and bad times. Compared to any other sector, the use of technology is the least here. There are many hurdles in the way of bringing technology in education. We have worked very hard to overcome them one by one, as a result of which we are here today."

He further said that we need to create good content in edtech field and there is need to provide investment so that better education can be given to the students.

“We understand that better content and better way of teaching makes our business stronger however, considering the permanent replacement of classroom education with virtual class or any other medium, is wrong. No matter how much technology develops, it will never be easy to remove classroom education. Both can be run side by side. Teachers, classes, schools and colleges have to get used to living with technology. It will help them to make a big difference in their lives,” he added.

Syna Dehnugara, Head, Family offices, trica capital said, “As far as investing capital in the field of education is concerned, whether you are thinking of starting your start-up by investing directly in the field of education or preparing to invest your capital in a similar thinking company, it is more important to keep in mind that with what intentions you have started a school or an edtech company? Most of the people who are running a school somewhere have a philanthropic motive. Families with or considered to be very financially affluent can often be seen investing in the edtech sector, starting schools, colleges, universities, sometimes hiring teachers, nursing, and so on. They have also seen giving training. Such people believe that if they want to come in the field of education, the aim should be charity. Capital should also be invested here with the spirit of charity.”

Meanwhile, Vikram Ramasubramanian, Partner, Inflection Point Ventures said that it was difficult to integrate technology with education completely. In fact, along with the students, teachers, staff and many others also need to be technically educated.

He said, “Teachers should be tech-savvy. It is much more important to prepare the teachers so that they can easily solve the problems faced by the students. The staff of the institutes needs to be technically enabled in this whole process. Then, they have to stay with them for a few days so that if any kind of problem comes in between, they can be removed. Many times, while removing their problems, we also become aware of many such things, due to which it is understood that some change is necessary in our technology.

He added, “There are many companies in Edtech, who want to understand each and every area of it in depth, then invest in it and promote themselves in the market, so that they can get fair value of this investment. Most of the companies make private investment in this and They also earn good profit from it. In this way they grow rapidly. To a large extent it helps them to bring revenue financing. Advancement of technology many a times makes it easier for teachers to share curriculum, students to study better.”