Online platforms see unprecedented surge in demand

As schools and colleges remain shut for nearly two months, several online learning platforms have seen a surge in demand, with many schools and students moving to

As schools and colleges remain shut for nearly two months, several online learning platforms have seen a surge in demand, with many schools and students moving to online learning.

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Online learning giant BYJU’S has seen nearly six million new students joining its learning application during March alone, data shared by the company has revealed. While students who were earlier registered on the platform would use it for two-three days a week, the company said that most students now use it every day as schools remain shut. “There is a 200% increase in online engagement on the app. This shows that with schools continuing to be shut and all other learning sources being unavailable, digital adoption has increased significantly during this time. There has been a big behavioural shift in the parents’ mindset towards learning online as they have witnessed their kids benefit from it,” said Mrinal Mohit, chief operating officer at BYJU‘S.

Udemy, an online learning platform that offers different courses on its platform has seen an overall spike in enrolments of over 200% in India, with the content on its platforms seeing an increase of over 50%. The highest surge in enrolments was seen for courses on communication skills, art and coding for kids amongst others. “The trends over the last two months represent a significant acceleration in the transformation to a new future,” said Darren Shimkus, president, Udemy for Business.

Another learning platform, Schoolnet India, which provides e-learning services to over 10,000 schools said that there was an increase in the traction after the shutting down of schools. In the first 4-5 days, the platform’s sign-up rate tripled. “Our call centre traffic has also increased proportionately, and demand for online classes is also growing every day,” said Shourie Chatterji, Head - digital initiatives, Schoolnet India.

Ahana Sethi, a city-based parent said that while most schools have now started online classes, children still get a lot of free time. “They spend only three-four hours in the online classes and hence parents want to engage them in activities apart from studies. Since going out is not an option anymore, many are preferring online courses on art, language learning, etc.”