44pc online education search queries come from Tier 2 & 3 cities, says Google KPMG study

BANGALORE, INDIA: Online education industry in India will grow at a healthy rate of 8x, to become a $1.96 billion industry by 2021, says a joint study done by Google and KPMG.

Capturing the growing influence of the Internet on the education industry in India, the report finds that the paid user base will grow 6X from 1.6 million users in 2016 to 9.6 million users in 2021.

Highlighting the segment wise growth in the online education space, the report highlights that reskilling and online certification is currently the largest. In 2016, it was valued at USD 93 million, and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 38 percent to reach 463 million by 2021.

As per the report, the primary and secondary education category has the largest addressable audience with a student base of around 260 million when compared to the other categories. Owing to this, the primary and secondary supplementary education segment was the second largest category in 2016, and will grow at a CAGR of 60 percent to reach $773 million, making it the largest category in 2021.

The test preparation which is a small segment as of today is likely to grow at an impressive CAGR of 64 per cent to become a USD 515 million category in 2021.

Image Source: Google-KPMG study

Nitin Bawankule, Industry Director, Google India said, “The online education segment is set to become a multi-billion dollar opportunity in India. There are many factors driving this growth including the perceived convenience, increased reach and personalisation offered by online channels. It is also interesting to note, that high growth in education search queries is now coming in from Tier 2 and 3 cities such as Patna, Guwahati, Aligarh and Kota - which points to the opportunities that growing penetration of smartphones and improving quality of internet have opened up.”

The report revealed that 44 percent of education searches are now coming from beyond the top 6 metros and there has been a 4X growth in education content consumption on YouTube in the last one year.

Also, there has been a 2x growth in online searches for education over the last two years and a 3X growth in searches from a mobile device.

Sreedhar Prasad, Partner, KPMG India said, “There are several evolving trends in the Indian online education segment that are contributing to the growth opportunities ahead. These include emergence of hybrid learning channels, continuous need for working professionals to learn new skills as well as emergence of technologies such as big data and artificial intelligence that is enabling online education vendors to design customized content. At the same time, it will be critical for players to deliver differentiated offerings for consumers to see continued value in online education channels.