Dilip Thakore interviewed Rohit Jain (27), managing director of Mexus Education Pvt. Ltd in Mumbai. Excerpts:
What is the objective behind promotion of Mexus Education (Me)? And how satisfied are you with your progress thus far?
Because of the oppressive rote learning and marks-driven system, most children and learners regard education at best as a necessary evil. To change this perception, we co-promoted Mexus Education with the objective of infusing fun and joy into K-12 education through animation, movies, comics etc. By combining education with entertainment we want to transform school education into a joyful lifelong learning continuum.
In the past two years, our creative team has developed several products in line with this objective. Initial response to our pilot products has been excellent — to the extent that we have had to invest resources to complete the full range. All our products, processes and services are getting fabulous market response.
A large number of corporates such as Educomp Solutions, Everonn Education, NIIT Manipal K-12 have entered the school ICT-in-education, content development and supplementary education products and services space. What is the USP (unique sales proposition) of ME?
We believe that every learner has his preferred way of learning. Our USP is that we offer learners multiple ways to learn. Moreover while most education service providers have focused only on 2D/3D animations in K-12 education, we have gone deeper to analyse learn-ers’ likes and dislikes based on age group. A primary school child would tend to learn best through graphic texts and animation, but this won’t be true of high school and higher secondary students.
We provide content in multiple forms giving teachers the flexibility to teach a topic through a mind map, animation, movie or slideshow. This is to give equal importance to the preferred learning medium of each child. We are the first company in the K-12 space to give students in school and at home the same content so that learning becomes a seamless experience.
Do you perceive any disadvantages of me being a relatively late entrant into the K-12 products and services market?
Not at all. The Indian market for ICT and self-study products is still nascent with the largest spend being on school fees and the second largest on private tuition. We believe that technology can be integrated into the learning process to make it joyful, playful and personal. Education has to move out of the four walls scenario and become anytime, anywhere.
Moreover while technology has touched and transformed Indian indus-try in a big way, the education sector has a long way to go. A mere 5 percent of our schools are techno-logically equipped. But with growing awareness of the importance of technology, the ICT-in-schools and B2C (business to consumer) markets are set to grow substantially to an estimated $50 billion (Rs.230,000 crore) in the near future.
The general impression is that me is relying on several innovative “killer apps” products and services to take the market by storm. What’s your comment?
Our killer app is our strong focus on research and development of ‘edutai-nment’ products. Mexus Education has launched several products in this space under our Iken brand and we have built a pipeline for the steady flow of edutainment products into the marketplace.
Our empirical research indicates that edutainment products help students understand as well as retain concepts better by an overwhelming 200 percent.
How satisfied are you with the pace of modernisation in K-12 education in India?
Compared with the potential, modernisation has barely scratched the surface of India’s K-12 system. Even elite schools don’t create new digital content and are satisfied with digitisation of existing content. We believe that India is ready for experiential unforgettable learning. Increasingly, learners are searching for everlasting experiences of learning rather than studying to pass exams. This yearning has created a huge market for an entire range of new-tech products and services that learners are now keen to use.
What are the medium and long term development plans of ME?
We are committed to continue researching and developing new products that can redefine the way learning is perceived and imparted. We have set our sights on establishing Mexus Education as one of the top global companies in education innovations within the next ten years.