EdTech firm Utkarsh Classes to drive pan-India hybrid education system
New Delhi: To offer both offline and online learning experiences for students, Utkarsh Classes & Edutech today, announced plans to bolster its hybrid education system.
In this regard, the company recently inaugurated its 17th offline centre in Jodhpur, Rajasthan. The centre will cater to those looking to join the armed forces and appear for defense exams, including the Combined Defence Services (CDS) examination, Air Force Common Admission Test (AFCAT), National Defence Academy and Naval Academy Examination (NDA), and Indian Coast Guard Navik Test (ICGNT).
On the occasion, Utkarsh Classes & Edutech Founder and CEO Dr. Nirmal Gehlot said, “We are bullish towards expanding our course offerings and offer diverse courses to students through both offline and online platforms. At present, we have an offline presence in Rajasthan with 15 centers spread across a large space. We are looking to expand in Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and Haryana in the next phase. Our expansion of digital studios in these states will involve opening 100-plus offline coaching centers in tier II and III cities. While our offline-online revenue ratio is 30:70, offline play an important last-mile role in reaching out to students and parents.”
Given the layoffs in the EdTech industry, Utkarsh Classes & EduTech plans to go on a hiring spree, especially in tier II and III cities in FY23. To capitalize on the teaching talent pool in these cities, the company launched a ‘Teaching Talent Hunt’ campaign on YouTube to attract pan-India teachers and offer them jobs. Aiming high, Utkarsh Classes & Edutech also plans to recruit 500 employees including senior leadership, educators, and other staff for their new sales and customer service team.
Utkarsh Classes & Edutech takes pride in its massive growth from 6000 to 1.5 million paid students enrolling for online coaching classes since 2018 and about 27,000 offline students, mainly in the government test prep category along with other courses. The company has introduced affordable online courses, with an average annual ticket size of Rs 2,500, to institutionalize the unorganized government test prep segment. With the hybrid model, the online business conversion is expected faster than the current pace because students and parents who are unable to afford offline learning can opt for online courses to start with. The hybrid learning model can enhance students’ learning capacity by making classrooms more engaging, practical, and accessible, especially with the studios that we have at Utkarsh.
Dr. Gehlot added, “We are in a forward-thinking era of education where learning is not confined to classrooms or textbooks. And that’s why hybrid learning environments and blended learning techniques are going to be an integral part of hybrid education. As we get ready to reimagine education, educators around the country are examining the best ways to connect with students remotely. But instead of going back to the traditional classroom setting, we are exploring different educational models to meet the needs of our students.”
Utkarsh Classes & EduTech has engaged over 22 million students across online and offline platforms. These include education centres, app users, YouTube channels, Telegram, Facebook, and other social media platforms and the app has more than 9 million downloads and has over 9.3 Million Subscribers.