Scaling up online skilling

BRIDGING THE GAP BETWEEN EDUCATION AND EMPLOYABILITY AT SCALE

- S SHANTHI

"THERE WAS NO eureka moment," Ronnie Screwvala, media mogul and co-founder of upGrad says, as he recalls the starting days of upGrad. The idea of launching an online higher education platform that focuses on upskilling was a result of his non-profit work in the education sector since the 1990s.

"Especially for me, in my second innings, it was to validate what I could do for the next 20 years," he says.

For Screwvala, it was not about reacting to a trend, but about creating a long-term impact through lifelong learning.

"So, no dramatic spark. It was just a steady, evolving vision that germinated from years of exploration and insight," he says. As he worked with youth in rural India for the non-profit, which was officially launched as Swades Foundation (a name he derived from his Shah Rukh Khan starrer Swades) after divesting UTV to Disney in 2012, he met around 300 people who helped him understand the sector better. They were the sounding board on what it would take to disrupt the sector.

Mayank Kumar, co-founder, upGrad was one of them.