E-learning Has Potential To Transform Education Sector For Better: Nishant Agarwal

How do you look at the e-learning scenario of India, post-pandemic? 

I think the e-learning industry is going to flourish in the post-pandemic phase. If we did not have the power of e-learning on our hands, the entire education sector would have come to a screeching halt with the imposition of the lockdown. Even though a majority of educational institutions were forced to adopt the e-learning model, having used it for more than a year now, they’ve realized its benefits.

Many institutions have declared that even in the post-pandemic phase, they will continue with Blended Learning – which is a learning model that combines online and offline learning to get the best results. Several Ed-tech startups have mushroomed up during the pandemic and they’re all coming up with unique, innovative ideas to make education smart, efficient, easily accessible. E-learning has the potential to transform the education sector for the better and we’re witnessing that transformation happen before our eyes.

Whom do you consider your biggest competitor? 

I don’t think there is any competition on the route that I have chosen. There is hardly any Ed-tech organization in the country that services such a wide range of academic and non-academic institutions. When I laid the foundation of Proctur, my sole purpose was to improve the education system in the country. I only wanted to establish a platform that will make teaching and learning easier. Now that we’ve successfully created a product that can accomplish these things, I look forward to taking it to as many regions in the country as possible - and hopefully, to other Asian and European countries as well in the future.

What makes you stand out in the market already flooded with a large number of EdTech players? 

Proctur not only adds value to schools and colleges but also to the life of the students, making education fun, interactive and easily accessible. We’ve focused on staying highly affordable to remain accessible to a majority of the country’s population. We are currently the only one-stop solution in the market for digitizing educational institutes of any type. We offer several innovative features supporting academic and non-academic institutions.

We are focused on the mass digitization of education to revolutionize the way educators educate and learners learn. We empower educators to build their business by providing them with the technical tools to monetize their content/video lectures/courses. A free website for educators is another feature that helps educators to strengthen their online presence.

How do you justify the role of EdTech platforms in smoother pedagogical shift brought in by COVID-19 disruptions, in a country like India where over 60 per cent of students come from rural areas? 

When the lockdown was imposed, the educational institutions had two options – either switch to e-learning or shut down for good. Those who had the resources for it chose the former option. Now it is quite true that most of our country’s population resides in the rural areas where the technological penetration is low and the e-learning model cannot be efficiently implemented in these areas. However, the government is taking necessary steps to fast-track digitization in rural areas and create an atmosphere of inclusivity and growth. By embracing digitization, we can make our education system stronger, efficient, and resilient and this is what we need to do. The gaps between the rural and the urban areas will be filled eventually as the country moves forward on the path of development.

How do you aspire to bring a change in the education ecosystem of India? 

At Proctur, we seek to automate and help streamline the management of educational institutes by providing app-based interfaces to key stakeholders in the education industry. We also intend to establish a service platform for enhancing student learning and bringing innovation to the rapidly progressing field of education.

What are your business expansion plans? 

With our unparalleled services, we have established a strong presence in 125 cities in the country so far. Now, to bridge the gap between urban and rural education, we are targeting the rural markets in India. Once we gain some traction in the Indian rural markets, we will look forward to expanding our footprint in other Asian and European countries as well.