The Edtech Emergency

Flush with funds in the pandemic, online education is facing a test of survival. With EdTech firms downsizing by the hour, is the future of remote learning at stake?

- Sohini Mitter

Edtech was one of the biggest beneficiaries of the pandemic-induced lockdowns, managing to grow at breakneck speed through 2020 and 2021. With schools and offline coaching centres shut due to Covid-19-related restrictions, India's 260-million-odd student population took to online learning by the hordes. But come 2022, things would change dramatically.

Without the cushion of venture capital and the screen time of locked-down learners, the plans of India's edtech start-ups have gone haywire. From mass layoffs to suspension of marketing spends to other costcutting exercises-one start-up, a unicorn no less, has even stopped providing complimentary snacks and meals in its offices online education firms are clutching at the last straws for survival.

What's worse is that students also seem to be losing interest in remote learning.

In the first three months of the lockdown in 2020, education apps witnessed a 30 per cent increase in time spent, per a report by BARC India and Nielsen. Two years on, this has translated into "screen fatigue". A survey by the Ministry of Education reveals that 80 per cent of students found remote learning "burdensome" and unenjoyable.