Edtech sector’s self-regulation bid: How, why, and

why now

India’s rapidly growing edtech sector recently took a step towards

self-regulation, with a clutch of leading companies adopting a set
of guidelines to conduct their businesses.

The companies have formed a collective — India EdTech

Consortium — under the aegis of the industry body Internet and
Mobile Association of India (IAMAI).

The collective has been formed after the government announced

that it was working on a policy to regulate the sector.

What exactly is ‘edtech’?

Edtech is essentially a combination of ‘education’ and ‘technology’.

Before the pandemic hit, edtech was mostly about using
technological tools to improve learning outcomes and enhancing
access. It was a sector that was already growing fairly steadily.

A major push came as Covid-19 shut down schools, colleges, and

universities. From being a ‘modern’ choice, remote learning
suddenly became the only alternative as institutions, students,
guardians, and authorities switched to the digital mode.

Four out of the six Indian edtech startups with valuations of $1

billion and above have come up over the last year, which captures
the way the industry has grown of late.
Which are these startups, valued at a billion dollars or more?

The companies are BYJU’S, Unacademy, Eruditus, upGrad,

Vedantu, and Lead School. Companies such as these are called
‘unicorns’, a recognition of the fact that start-ups with a net worth
of over $ 1 billion are rarely found.

While Vedantu, upGrad and Eruditus joined the unicorn club in

2021, Lead School joined the league this month.

What was the need for the edtech companies to roll out self-
regulation?

The move to self-regulate stems from growing concerns, which

echoed in Parliament, that many edtech firms were indulging in
various forms of business malpractices to attract consumers.

The government stepped in last month, issuing an advisory of do’s

and don’ts for students and guardians looking to sign up for online
courses offered by these companies.

The advisory also cautioned the companies against violations.

Earlier this month, Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan had
announced that the government was working on a policy to
regulate the edtech ecosystem.

His remarks had drawn mixed reactions from the industry that has
traditionally been wary of state interventions.

What kind of complaints did edtech companies face?

In its advisory, the government had cautioned people against
enrolling for courses without careful evaluation, because many
courses billed as free in advertisements were found to be paid.

Also, many customers had unknowingly signed up for loans

arranged by these companies, the government said.

“It has come to the notice of the Department of School Education

and Literacy that some ed-tech companies are luring parents in
the garb of offering free services and getting the Electronic Fund
Transfer (EFT) mandate signed or activating the auto-debit feature,
especially targeting the vulnerable families,” the government said
in the advisory.

So how does the collective plan to set things right?

The India EdTech Consortium has adopted a three-page code of

conduct for their businesses. The code is an attempt to address
the concerns raised by the government; most of the clauses allude
to red flags that have been raised in the recent past.

The companies — BYJU’S, Byju’s, Careers 360, Great Learning,

Harappa, TimesEdutech & Events Ltd, Scalar, Simplilearn, Toppr,
Unacademy, upGrad, Vedantu, and WhiteHat Jr among others —
have claimed to have adopted the mantra, “what is told is what is
sold”.

What else does the code of conduct contain?

Apart from stressing on transparency and warning against

misleading ads, the code of conduct says the companies are
expected to use legal terms of qualifications such as MBA, BBA,
and others in ads only when it is compliant with guidelines issued
by the UGC and AICTE.

On the practice of edu-tech firms using examples of students

achieving success by using their products, the code says such
claims must be “authentic with validated proof of performance”.
“Every advertisement of successful candidates must substantiate
the product or service they used to give credibility to the claim of
success,” it says.

Industry players have been advised to adopt the code for self-
regulation issued by the Advertising Standards Council of India.

Source: https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/india-
edtech-sector-self-regulation-7721488/