Is India ready to accept an EdTech-intensive system in post pandemic times? A strategic analysis of India’s ‘‘readiness’’ in terms of basic infrastructural support

Abstract

The pandemic situation has forced most of the countries to plummet toward a virtual, distant learning format in recent years since 2020. While there are certain undeniable benefits of a virtual, technology-infused setup, it essentially calls for a complete paradigm shift for a country like India which has otherwise been a practitioner of traditional classroom teaching. Despite that, the recent boom in the EdTech market in India coupled with recent government policies indicate that India is going for that paradigm shift. The key thing to note here is that an EdTechintensive setup is not as primitive as the traditional one. Its feasibility demands more rigorous infrastructural support. This paper looks into the very basic infrastructural requirements of the system in light of a very straightforward strategic analysis model—Objective and Key Results. Under this setup, India’s readiness is measured in terms of the availability of electricity, internet, and digital equipment with the intention of making an accessible, affordable and inclusive EdTech-driven education system. Moving one step further, this paper also tallies the recent policies with the specific shortcomings of the existing system to determine whether or not India is moving on the right path to progress. In a nutshell, it is found that there is ample room for improvement in the current arrangement for implementing a large-scale EdTechenabled system, but the progress is most certainly happening in the right direction. Recent policies make quite an argument in favor of doing away with the digital divide and building an effective and inclusive EdTech-powered education system for the future generations of citizens.