Bangalore-based EduSports Pvt Ltd, which provides sports curriculum and training to schools on an oursourcing model, expects to sign up 75-80 new schools this year, including 15 from Andhra Pradesh. It now runs the sports programme in 150 schools, including nearly 20 in the state.
According to Saumil Majumdar, co-founder and CEO, EduSports, most of its current partner schools were in the fee range of Rs 10,000 - 40,000 per year. There are 15,000 private schools with a fee of at least Rs 1,250 per month, out of a total of 78,000 in the country.
“This segment is growing at a rate of 7.5 per cent, or 1,000 new schools every year,” he said, adding this would be its target segment for now.
“As our system matures, we want to cover the entire spectrum from government schools to premium ones that charge Rs 50,000 and above per month,” he said. The company, founded in 2009 with 10 schools, is also in talks with school chains like Pearson, Educomp and Radcliffe, and hopes to clinch deals with some of them this year.
The company raised about Rs 26 crore from Seed Fund, a venture capital firm, last year. Majumdar said they have already done the product development and marketing, and it would only involve operational expenditure rather than capex. Last year, its turnover was Rs 4.5 crore.
According to Majumdar, most of its schools are clustered in AP, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka in the south, and Punjab and the National Capital Region in the north, with a few in Indore and Raipur.
It is currently handling 90,000 children, and expects to add 40,000 more in the next one year. On average, it charges Rs 100-200 per child per month, while the equipment would cost Rs 50,000-75,000.
The company provides trained teachers, lesson plans and assessment of students. Majumdar said the curriculum was designed to make sports a way of life, and keeping in mind the constraints faced by schools in terms of space and time, the age appropriateness and the energy needed for the children.
According to Majumdar, the driving factors are that parents are demanding more in terms of sports, health and fitness, and the competition among schools to attract students by offering value-added education.
In addition, the recent direction of the Central Board of Secondary Education to the schools asking them to assess the children in co-scholastic areas like life skills, sports and performing arts is also expected to contribute to the trend.
