FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT ASSIGNMENT

TOPIC:

Education centred growth and prospect during and

post pandemic situation.

Under such a situation how would you draw a business

plan for private sector educational institutions and
ensure financial viability
OVERVIEW
The education sector in India has traditionally been based on the offline mode of
education in brick-and-mortar academic institutions but the Covid-19 pandemic has
changed the scenario. COVID-19 is one of the greatest challenges that national
education systems might have ever faced. Although the digital mode of education was
increasingly becoming popular in the past few years, the pandemic has given a boost to
it.

The Covid-19 outbreak has forced the educational institutions to leave the face-to-face
classroom behind and adapt to virtual platforms such as Microsoft Teams, Zoom, etc. to
connect with the students and provide them education.

PROBLEMS FACED
This abrupt shift from offline to online mode has caused problems to teachers, students,
and academic institutions. Virtual classes are very stressful for teachers who do not find
them friendly to work with technology. For some students without reliable internet
access or required gadgets, it has become quite a hassle as they are unable to attend
classes.

On the part of schools, colleges and various other institutions, there is a loss of fees like
library fees, transport fees, etc. and hostel expenses. In some institutions, mostly
international, whose survival is based mainly on tuition fees, they are even facing an
unsustainable enrolment decline which has led to the shutdown of operations. Parents
and students across the globe are protesting to cut fees as they don’t find remote
learning to be worth the huge fees taken by these institutions. Certain national and
international colleges and universities are also facing falling enrolments and retention
rates.

Apart from this, the costs related to technology such as providing laptops to the faculties
are also increasing. Salaries to be paid to the teachers and staff remain the same despite
the shortage of revenue. As a result, some of these institutions are even forced to cut
down on their staff. This has altogether majorly transformed the structure of the
education system.
STEPS THAT SHOULD BE TAKEN BY THE ACADEMIC
INSTITUTIONS
To tackle all these problems, educational institutions are forced to put some extra efforts
for their survival and growth. Reassuring students and parents is a vital element of
institutional response in this situation. The focus should remain on existing content and
curriculum. For junior classes, teachers need to put concentrated efforts to ensure
interactive and engaging classes.

Customized learning materials should be prepared to increase the concentration of

students during classes irrespective of their grades. Students of junior classes can also
be provided with class recording so that they can cope up properly with the change. It is
not as much of a problem for senior students as for junior classes.

Schools should try to focus on catering to the concerns of parents of young children
whose physical and social development has been hindered due to the lockdown.
Counseling sessions and workshops could be organized for them and many other
students who might not be part of the same school. This will also help the school in
bringing revenue to the organization.
Edtech platforms can prove to be a very powerful aid for teachers so that they can
improve the learning process. They can also bring on some fun online activities such as
quiz and competitions focused mainly on student learning, whether academic or lifestyle
and behavioral lessons.

IMPACT ON THE EDUCATION MARKET

The COVID-19 pandemic has proven to be an opportunity for edtech companies like
Vedantu, BYJU’S and Unacademy to reach out to people who were earlier ignorant
regarding this. Since people had a lot of time during the lockdown, they were looking
forward to skill enhancement to utilise the time. Students, working professionals
enrolled themselves in various online courses to make most of the leisure hours
available.

Many online learning platforms offered their online courses for free in the initial stage
of lockdown trying to reach as many audiences as possible. BYJU’S, the world’s most
highly valued edtech company, has seen more than a double-fold increase in new
subscriptions.

A lot of edtech companies have also started to adopt technologies like Artificial

Intelligence and Machine learning. This will enable teachers and policymakers to get
better insights into their students and modify learning methods accordingly. Many
edtech experts believe that online learning makes it easier for students to interact with a
larger pool of students and it also gives more focus to individual learning.
ENSURING FINANCIAL VIABILITY
Educational institutions, especially those who have dried revenues and increasing
losses, should formulate and implement sustainable financial strategies to support
themselves. They should look forward to discovering new opportunities for broadening
revenue sources apart from the traditional source by providing education.

Educational institutions can launch a few virtual campaigns to determine the gap in the
market and hence, provide certain services to the various stakeholders such as parents,
students, or even teachers. Short skill development courses such as Microsoft Excel,
Microsoft Word, etc. can be provided to the students of every grade varying on the basis
of advancement. Some parents who are not technology friendly would be even
interested in the basic know-how of using laptops and attending class. Institutions may
charge a minimal fee for these courses. These courses can also be offered to an outsider
for an extra charge.

Webinar, online vocational courses, workshops can also be organized. Senior grade
students might even be interested in training programs and soft skill development
courses. They can even collaborate with experts in this field and provide paid
certification courses.
These academic institutions can request the government to provide financial aid to them
in terms of a financial package.

PROBABLE POST PANDEMIC SCENARIO

Nothing can be said about the post-pandemic scenario with a 100% guarantee but
considering the current environment, speculations can be made.

 A new model of education might be introduced with a combination of offline

and online mode. The need for social distancing will still remain and so the
strength of classrooms will decrease. So, initially, there might be a schedule for
alternate days of classes and that too with decreased time. It will definitely take
some time to adapt back to the normal situation where there is no fear of
physical interaction and coronavirus transmission.

 People will have to re-learn the ‘normal’ order of classroom teaching. While
other sectors are now unlocking and restarting their activities, schools, colleges,
and universities could be amongst the last to return to 'normalcy'. Virtual classes
may be an integral part of educational institutions in the post-COVID-19 world.

 A big difference which we might witness is that online education will not seem
like an alien term to many people. People will find it easy to switch to online
mode whenever needed again and will become increasingly willing to adopt
technology.

 With so many livelihoods lost during the pandemic, many poor parents may not
be able to afford to send their children back to school for a long time.

 The mobility for international students will decrease even after the travel bans
are removed properly due to the instability of income sources. Every form of
international education has been effected starting from study abroad schemes to
staff exchanges including summer programmes and internships.
WILL ONLINE EDUCATION REPLACE A TRADITIONAL
ONE?
Due to the sudden shift from the face-to-face classroom teaching to virtual platforms
across the globe, people are wondering whether the adoption of online teaching will
continue even after the pandemic ends.

As colleges have moved to online classes, additional concerns are arising about the
quality of education that can be provided remotely. Being locked down has disrupted
the aspect of personal growth of students such as social interaction, confidence to speak
to people, etc. especially for young students. Post pandemic, the world will still have to
follow social distancing norms for some time but the need for human interaction will
increase as compared to the earlier scenario.

Mainstream university and college education has flourished until now due to the fact
that there is no substitute for the ambiance of the university campus and learning with
peers in the classroom. Online classes can never be substituted completely for face-to-
face classes as personal growth and development are equally important for students. As
a result, colleges and universities have been able to maintain their exclusivity until now.

There is also another conception of this topic. What seemed like an alien concept till
now may actually become a post-COVID alternative and challenge increasingly
expensive university education. There is also a realistic possibility that the post-COVID
education may continue to gain momentum in an online mode for certain areas, even
after Coronavirus is no longer there.

CONCLUSION
Although this is a challenging time for all academic institutions, it is not impossible to
survive because education will always remain an essential service. Other sectors that
have been affected by the pandemic might not recover easily as those needs might take
a back seat but education can never be taken for granted. It is an important part of life
for and it will continue whether it is through offline mode or through online classes.