Enabling policies can be brought in Budget 2022 to make India a ‘Vishwa Guru’

The year 2021 has seen India witness several startups becoming unicorns and the country will continue on this path in 2022, with many soonicorns on the waiting list. The overall sentiment has been quite positive in India despite the country being gripped by uncertain times owing to the spread of the Omicron variant of coronavirus. Given the new contagion spread and people’s vested interest in online learning, increasing budget allocations towards technological advancement in digital education is the need of the hour.

This will help edtech focus on what’s new and interesting for today’s learners right up to higher education. Increasing educators in the edtech sphere along with partnerships can help scale up the education ecosystem and help India become the edtech capital of the world.

With the growing online learning ecosystem, the government should prioritize augmenting investments in advanced digital infrastructure to make it world class.

Online education is accessible to every learner across the globe or one can say we are on the precipice of very significant learning. Today, edtech companies are going global through various mergers and acquisitions. The phygital model of studying abroad with leading edtech players, helps learners develop the right skills and pursue their degrees while not worrying about travelling abroad and helps them complete the same or equivalent degree at 1/10th of the offline cost.

Therefore, while the edtech sector is solving accessibility problems, learners would need a push to invest in such services and by extension their own futures. To provide this push, all the while fostering a culture of upskilling and continuous learning, implementation of policies that allow for tax deductions on the fees paid by the learners will go a long way.

Akin to investment instruments that are commonly used for tax deductions, tax saving policies in edtech will act as an added incentive for learners who choose to invest in courses. Furthermore, a model similar to receiving tax benefits against education loans can be established for upskilling programs to create and sustain the culture of upskilling and continuous learning.

This will also drive up the gross enrolment ratio (GER) and create a skilled workforce, which will only lead to higher gross domestic product (GDP).

Another important area the Union budget should address is the skilling and training of teachers as part of the edtech policy, so that India can soon assume the mantle of ‘Vishwa Guru’. Edtech platforms are focused on training their educators who can relay their knowledge of the particular field in the most engaging and enriching manner that allows the retention of complex theories.

As edtech offers scope for a variety of courses, enabling teachers and small and medium enterprises with skills to teach the courses will be vital, as teachers have significant impact on student learning. However, without the required support and training, they will not be able to cope with the technologically enhanced education space. Furthermore, the level of unemployment will also reduce if they are trained in teaching subjects related to different areas of industry.

With India generating so many startups and unicorns, another critical issue that we expect the 2022 Union budget to address is Employee Stock Ownership Plans (esops) taxation. Startups have been generating wealth-creation opportunities for employees, to drive up shared ownership and productivity through esops. However, employees are liable to pay taxes while encashing esops, without the option to set off gains against any future investment. This is where the government can help improve the edtech ecosystem by revising the taxation on esops and bringing it on par with listed equity taxation. The risk for the exercise remains the same as it is for normal stocks. Tax reduction on esops will help bring down the risk associated with the plan and encourage employees to enrol for such schemes.

Recently, Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared 16 January as National Startup Day, highlighting the importance of startups in India’s economic progress. Cultivating an ecosystem of upskilling and continuous learning will go a long way in improving the country’s GDP on the back of a highly skilled workforce.

As a result of the pandemic and its effects over the last two years, edtech companies have played a big role in the education sector. Edtech companies have witnessed their customer base open up 20 times more and have also seen an increase in traffic similar to what ecommerce companies see.

Online learners today have accepted edtech companies as their lifelong learning partner to upskill and have great career outcomes. However, much of the outcome now lies on the upcoming Union budget 2022 and we hope to see the benefits that will be there for learners and their edtech partners.

Mayank Kumar is the co-founder and managing director of upGrad.