From Certification To Mindset, How Upskilling Startups Face Multiple Challenges While the opportunities in edtech are huge, upskilling startups have to face multiple hurdles as well

The growing gap between what our education system offers and what the job market demands has led to an increased demand for upskilling courses. There is an increased awareness about what a hands-on experience can offer students in their careers.

This has led to the rise of many skilling startups in India including Ant Wak, SkillLync, Masai School, Unlu, Disprz, Simplilearn, BrightChamps and many others. To reskill and upskill tech workforce, the Indian government has also set up a Programme for Reskilling or Upskilling of IT Manpower for Employability (PRIME). Large edtech players have also been acquiring skilling startups to cash in on the demand. For instance, in August 2021, upGrad acquired KnowledgeHut to enter the short-term skilling courses space. In July 2021, BYJU'S announced the acquisition of Singapore headquartered Great Learning, to get into the professional upskilling space.

"The biggest opportunity in this space is that there are innumerable such skills on which we need to train our kids and these skills also keep on evolving with time. Moreover, it's a global phenomenon as technology knows no boundaries. Thus, this space provides an unparalleled global opportunity for the right kind of product which can provide a solid foundation around important life skills to children to have a superlative outcome in life," said Ravi Bhushan, founder and CEO, BrightChamps.

However, as much as there are opportunities, challenges are also many. We spoke to a few entrepreneurs in the space to understand those challenges.

Challenges Galore

It is a herculean task of changing the mindset of young professionals, say entrepreneurs. There is still a hesitancy to do what traditional institutions do not offer. "Skilling seemed impossible at first. However, owing to undying efforts invested by edtech firms the skill gap is gradually declining. It can be viewed as a way of arresting the growing economic tension," said Girish Singhania, CEO, EduBridge.

"We have met with several questions on certification, which we've overcome by strategically partnering with prominent corporations, whereby learners not only earn a certificate authenticating that the knowledge received is aligned to the needs of the industry but also works as a guarantee card that will bag them an opportunity in a reputed counting-house," he added. Additionally, industry acceptance of skills over degrees is also low. "While the shift is steadily happening, most of the employers still want to apply a filter of degree, stream and percentage to "shortlist good candidates," said Prateek Shukla, founder and CEO, Masai School.

Also, often students take time to settle into their new jobs, which has to be overcome by companies by hand-holding recruits for the first six months to wean them off the initial attrition. There are many challenges when you look at the 0 to 1 skilling space. And by now, we know that as we keep moving forward, going deeper, we will keep discovering new challenges, said Shukla. For instance, Shukla says, there is a lack of fundamental skills that are supposed to be the building blocks for higher education. For example, Masai School's entrance test is based on high school maths and logical reasoning; and a vast majority of the applicants find it difficult to clear it. To even begin the journey startups have to create a foundation unit, where students can learn problem-solving, communication skills etc.

Language is another barrier. "English is a requirement for not just work, but also in the learning process. But sadly, most of the youth from Tier 2 or 3 towns are unable to structure even basic sentences without using their mother tongue," said Shukla.

Further, the startups feel it is important to train our children with the right skills in a manner that they don't see it as a task but as an experience to enjoy. "Finding the right kind of product which could meet this desired need and expectation and engage kids in meaningful ways is one of the biggest challenges faced by any venture. Another big challenge in this space is building a high-quality faculty pool at a global level for removing the language barrier," said Bhushan.

Lastly, the scams in the education system and thereby the lack of trust among consumers. "It is almost unbelievable that we have so many scammers in the education system. From institutes who will promise the moon and deliver nothing but dust; to those who hold students' original certificates as ransom in the name of "guaranteed jobs" - they have created a trust deficit in the system in general," said Shukla.