Edtech Companies To Tackle Crisis By Automating Admission Process To Online

Abhinav Sekhri Mar 29, 2020

As the global public health crisis are precipitated by an outbreak of coronavirus, COVID-19, a growing number of colleges and universities around the country are cancelling in-person classes and asking students to leave campus as a precaution to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, fearing that schools and colleges may be a fertile breeding ground for spreading the virus. This has ultimately affected the admission process for the entire educational sector. Given the Government of India advisory to 'maintain social distancing' and the recent news of educational institutions declaring close down, various Edtech startups are using this disruption as an opportunity of automating the admission process to match the pace of the digital revolution. 

Thanks to the rapid growth of Edtech innovations, schools and colleges are now open to taking up on the smart digital route in order to make quality the milestone for enhancing teaching and learning. Admittedly, March is a month that worries admissions officials. In lieu of the ongoing crisis, the college admissions and college consulting industries have seen a considerable change in the landscape of enrollment. While choosing a college can be a stressful decision any year, and the special circumstances this spring call for extra resilience. But with such a large proportion of students deciding to defer until the health crisis has dissipated, universities and colleges are becoming more flexible than ever in accepting a digitalized way of admissions 

Edtech companies are coming forward to digitally transform all key functional services provided by educational institutions and offer the most reliable and convenient experience to students as well as parents. Parents can help their teenagers in keeping their perspective in place and stay levelheaded for the future by weighing the pros and cons of the schools on their lists remotely. Let’s dig into how Edtech is revolutionizing the admission process to tackle the crisis. 

Digitalizing universities' application process

Because of the uncertainty revolving around the contamination of this virus, and the approaching regular decision release, colleges are concerned about the serious impact this can have on enrollment for the fall of 2020. Universities across the world have released statements regarding the coronavirus concerns, stating that they are closely monitoring the situation and will update students as needed. As for the admissions process, a majority of the universities are reassuring applicants that they will make a thorough consideration of any delays in receiving paper due to school closures and are also approaching Edtech companies to digitalize their admission process. They are coming in power with the students who are running into issues while completing their applications due to shutdowns related to the COVID-19. However, Edtech companies are assuring the universities that coronavirus outbreak will not negatively impact how applications are read and that every application will receive the admissions committees’ full consideration as normal with the help of online portals where students can enrol themselves in a similar way. The online portals are going to be designed in a way that will take you step-by-step into the admission process, just like how it would have been conducted in person. So, both students and their parents can rest assured that the coronavirus outbreak will not impact how the universities and colleges evaluate applicants - each and every application will receive full consideration. 

Online fees payment

The sudden closure of university campuses across the world and elsewhere has necessitated the convenient way of fee collection - Online Fee Payment. Colleges are partnering with trusted Edtech companies for payment gateways to ensure that there were no technical complexities and ease of payment. Also in the wake of the recent state of affairs, the Government of India has strictly instructed all the educational institutes to discourage taking in cash fee payments and going digital by making use of payment gateways. The automation of fee payments will not only reduce manual labour but also cut down on unnecessary paperwork. More so, you can ditch those long queues by submitting payments online, especially in the time of ‘social distancing’. 

Transforming education

COVID-19 has become a form of catalyst for educational institutions worldwide and pushed them to search for innovative learning solutions in a relatively shorter period of time. Edtech companies have been working closely with educational institutions to come with some standard asynchronous online learning tools which are specifically created to augment with synchronous face-to-face video instruction which is a practical step to help preempt college closures.

Many Edtech startups have mounted on offerings such as VR content, personalized assessments, gamification, parent engagement, soft skills development, student networking, digital libraries, procurement marketplaces, test preparation, learning analytics, specific language tools, internship location, along with real-time scenario engagement. Coronavirus has prompted a state where we will see learners as well as solution providers truly embracing the idea of ‘learning anywhere, anytime’ in the age of digital education. 