Hyderabad, November 05, 2020: With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and as a consequence of the nation-wide lockdown, a large majority of training institutes across the country came to an operational standstill. Even large training institutes which have a high dependency on classroom or labs are impacted in the current pandemic. While the impact is widespread, most training institutes across Tier 2 and 3 cities are deeply impacted. SKILL MONKS, India’s FIRST integrated market place for education, conducted a pan-India survey to analyse the challenges training institutes face to transition online and understand the support required by them. As per the SKILL MONKS report, 24% of training institutes were ready to adopt automation and digital solutions to integrate their current business operations.
The interest to automate coaching will ensure continuity in training students, who are pursuing education in their current streams, to acquire fresh skills in Information Technology, Digital Marketing and also help those preparing for competitive exams, higher exam preparation and Government Job preparation. The training institutes that were willing to make this shift were from cities across India including Hyderabad, Mumbai, Bangalore, Delhi, Pune, Visakhapatnam, Kanpur and Lucknow.
As some training institutes are keen to make the switch online, the report also stated that 76% were indecisive to leverage this opportunity. Unlike many schools and institutions in the education sector, training institutes do not have any automation capabilities to alter their mode of operations. Without foundational knowledge and infrastructure for digitisation and automation, it can be overwhelming to make this transformation. Another key factor that attributes to this resistance is the anticipation of the current situation getting resolved soon, due to which the institutes are unwilling to invest on digitisation. Lack of digital marketing capabilities is hampering lead generation, which is vital for these businesses to generate awareness and attract more learners in the current environment. However, without the support of digital infrastructure and digital marketing capabilities, this issue will continue to cause a disruption not only in the daily operations but also in their capacity to provide the much needed skilling/education to students who are in need during these unprecedented times.
Commenting on this survey, Rameswar Mandali, CEO and Founder, SKILL MONKS said, “Observing the pressing concerns faced by training institutes today, the responsibility falls on players like SKILL MONKS, to extend much needed support to enable business continuity and growth through technology solutions and impart digital marketing capabilities. Through our continuous endeavour to connect training institutes and students across India, we provide a cost effective, cloud –based SaaS offering through our Institute Management Solutions – that will enable this transition for training institutes as they move online. Changing dynamics in the education sector not only impacts the operations of educational institutions but also has a ripple effect on the learning and skilling progress of students. It is imperative to create an adaptive ecosystem that is powered by human touch and technology to enable continuous learning.”
The current landscape has prompted many to rethink the traditional classroom set-up of teaching. With social distancing norms taking precedence, online training can provide the opportunity to resolve the current shortcomings of class room/ offline training. It is of paramount importance for training institutes to gather information and increase awareness about the benefits of technology solutions that can automate their operations and ease transition to an online platform. Additionally, large organisations and communities should take it as their responsibility, to offer support to local training institutes so they can continue teaching and educating aspiring students in Tier 2 & 3 cities. This will assure consistent growth and promote inclusive training by encouraging learning from various geographies in India.
