Educomp to consolidate through PPP model

Educomp Solutions, which offers technology-based education solutions, is looking at the private-public-partnership model to boost growth after bagging contracts worth Rs 90 crore from the Gujarat and Haryana governments.

The company is also in talks with the governments of Chhatisgarh, Rajasthan and Chandigarh to offer IT enabled solutions and content for schools.

The company will also be using the ground it covers through the PPP model to enter the tutoring market in India.

As a first step in this direction, it has acquired 76 per cent stake in ThreeBrix E-services, an online tutoring service provider. Tutoring services will also be extended abroad through its subsidiaries or possible acquisitions.

Educomp has already begun offering its education solutions in the US through a subsidiary and has organised a sales team for its operations in Singapore.

For acquisitions, it is looking at mid size companies in the education space for which it is currently negotiating with companies in the US, Malaysia and Singapore.

"This year the union Budget's allocation for education went up 31 per cent and state governments across the country are increasingly looking at upgrading existing infrastructure in schools. There are close to 9,50,000 schools in India of which not more than 2 per cent are IT enabled which is a major indication of the potential for the company which offers customised learning solutions at school level, " Shantanu Prakash, MD, Educomp Solutions, said.

At present, the company operates various educational projects in around 5,627 schools in the country.

These projects involve across-the-board education infrastructure implementation, teacher training and content development projects in tandem with the governments of Assam, New Delhi, Orissa, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Tripura, and West Bengal, among others.

Typically, a project with a state government involves offering customised e-learning solutions and other technology platforms along with IT infrastrucure like UPS, computers etc for a monitoring period of three to five years.

The company has followed the Build -Own-Operate-Transfer (BOOT) model for its collaborations with the governments.

The company is now in the process of consolidating its presence through Roots 2 wings, its structured pre-school learning system and other online learning initiatives like Mathguru.com and the learning hour platform, based on education process outsourcing, which, according to Prakash would be the next most major market for IT enabled education technology solutions companies in the country.