Do Edtech MBAs Deliver?

Once Considered The Future Of Education, The Edtech Mba Was A Popular Choice For Many An Ambitious Professional In India. But Is It Coming Through On The Promise Of Career Progress?

- SUDESHNA MITRA

A YEAR AFTER Ritwik Sen (name changed) joined a multinational telecom services company in a management role, he was asked by the company to enrol in a sponsored six-month management course on leadership offered through an edtech firm. Sen, who has an MCA degree and 12 years of work experience, was told that this would help him get promoted.

Sen, who is undergoing the course at present, says the curriculum is designed with video lectures and assignments and covers topics like communication skills, leadership skills, problem solving, agility, etc.

Sen's experience bears testament to the now established trend of continuous learning for working professionals as companies look to upskill existing employees to keep pace with the ever-changing requirements of the dynamic workplace.

Of course, individuals too are joining MBA courses offered by edtech companies in partnership with established colleges as they try to catch the changing tides of the new workplace in the hopes that it will lead them to fortune.

In the case of individuals, they are often enticed by the prospect of gaining a degree from a global university for a fraction of what a normal MBA programme would cost. Besides, they can do it all from the comfort of their homes.

Numbers are hard to come by in this relatively new segment, but edtech companies say that there certainly isn't any dip in demand. Anecdotal evidence from working professionals, too, indicates that they are willing to join such courses in light of the deep uncertainty that has set in over the past few years, with the increasing preponderance of technologies like artificial intelligence raising concerns of redundancies.