India’s youth, comprising over 50 percent of its population, is referred to as its demographic dividend. A rough statistics in the past year estimates the presence of 367 universities, 18,000 colleges, half-a-million teachers and about 11 million students on the rolls (Source- ibef.org). These figures have since escalated but they throw light on the large Indian education market & the opportunity therein but more importantly it also throws light on the gap between educated population & employable population. Statistics reveal that less than 25% of the graduates are actually employable. It is believed that based on the current and future manpower requirements of the various sectors, there is a huge demand-supply gap in the education space.

This has attracted many players to invest in education and training institutions with the aim of building valuable franchises that can be rapidly scaled up. The core job of these players is to make a candidate employable by training them in the right courses effectively inculcating the need to be abreast of the present & future requirement & acquiring newer & multilevel skills. Coaching classes, Vocational training, IT Training institutes, English speaking classes etc. are a few examples of such entities.

The latest news that India’s education sector is forecasted to increase its IT spending from an estimated $356 million in 2008 to $704 million by 2012, reflecting in a Compounded Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 19 percent during 2007-2012, according to the research study by Springboard Research, an IT Market Research industry (Source - Silicon India)

The spin-off benefits that this sector has created is that, along with ensuring quality education & making candidates employable, it has created several entrepreneurs countrywide & that explains the reason as to why franchising is so successful in the education sector.

This has also led to the growth & rise of entrepreneurs who have contributed significantly. Specially, Women Entrepreneurs who have an inherent quality of being very deft in building rapport & look at things from a human angle as well thus are very good in customer service. So, it is not surprising that women tend to launch businesses that are client based or service-oriented.

Be sure to read on Trends and Facts About Indian Women in Business and Entrepreneurship the next post in our First Series on Women Entrepreneurship.