TutorVista enters brick and mortar classrooms

TutorVista, the Bangalore-based firm which has pioneered online tutoring for students in the West, has forayed into the brick-and-mortar tutoring segment by launching 20 tutorial centres in Karnataka through its subsidiary Edurite Technologies.

The company has drawn up plans to expand to 500 centres across the country by investing $50 million on content development and infrastructure in the next three years.

These centres, which will blend teacher-centric classroom approach with technology-related teaching aids, would provide education to students in pre-class XII segment, constituting 82 per cent of the Indian tuition market.

Addressing a press conference on Wednesday, Edurite Technologies CEO Srikanth Iyer said 20 tutorials have been launched in the first phase "" while 11 centres are located in Bangalore, the remaining are in semi-urban cities like Hassan, Bijapur, Davanagere and Shimoga.

The tutorials offer coaching in mathematics and science subjects for students taking up SSLC, CBSE, PUC and CET examinations.

Edurite Technologies President (India Education) B G Purushotham said: "A student who registers himself with any of the centre will not only get to attend classes conducted by qualified teachers, but also get to use technology-related concepts like animation, pictures, diagrams and practical lessons to understand theory. That way, students in semi-urban areas will now get access to the best teachers and technology. This also stops migration of students from towns to big cities like Bangalore.

The tuition fees for students will be around Rs 5,000 per subject in Bangalore and around Rs 2,500 per subject in the semi-urban centres.

On the expansion plans, Iyer said the company will follow the franchisee model in starting new centres. "We will shortly start another 10 centres in Karnataka and 20 centres in Kerala. By the end of 2009, we will operate 300 centres across the country," he added.

The company plans to offer English course from May.