Exclusive Interview with Yogesh Godbole, Director, Ace Brain Systems & Software

In an exclusive interview with DQ Channels, Yogesh Godbole, Director, Ace Brain Systems & Software Pvt. Ltd. talks about the future of Hybrid learning culture in the education sector, different opportunities for partners and how EdueBook.in and PartnerWins.in will help partners in this transformation journey. 

One prominent trend that is now emerging is EduTech and hybrid work culture. Especially in the education domain, now the work system has moved from work from home to a hybrid system. So, how do you view the growth of EduTech in the hybrid work culture and how do you plan to harness this opportunity?

With this pandemic, hybrid learning has really taken off. It is not only within the private schools or top nationals or classic kind of educational institute but this has taken a lot in government schools. Government is either giving them tablets or giving them smartphones. However, hybrid learning is a big opportunity currently and in the area where I work, the government has made the 50% attendance of students who are coming alternate days. So one day they attend online class and one day they come in physically to schools or colleges. So this hybrid learning is really helping schools to complete their syllabus and make students ready for exams or whatever it is.

What are the unique features of Indian EduTech and how can the partners help it grow?

In our neighbouring schools from the first lockdown phase, when all the schools wanted to do online education, nobody was prepared, not even the top national Institute, the government-run schools, higher education, technical education or school education, nobody was prepared to conduct their classes on any of the collaboration media or maybe on a video conferencing using an online tool, absolutely nobody was prepared. And still, there are so many educational institutes currently, who are not fully prepared for hybrid, imparting this hybrid education. Most of the schools are using different tools and other platforms, but there is no integrated or tech weight approach by most of these educational institutes. However, Microsoft Teams have really enabled schools with almost end to end solutions for the students, which we are implementing in government schools under ICT initiative, also here in Maharashtra, With this hybrid learning, the entire student monitoring student management, their homework, grading, online and offline exam, everything Microsoft is enabling schools. My experience with almost all the platforms, which are available across, I think Microsoft Teams and Microsoft initiatives like Shiksha, and all other initiatives are really helping schools to actually impact hybrid education across their students.

Microsoft has introduced partnerwins.in. And eduebook.in. So in your opinion, how is Microsoft enabling the partners/ ecosystem?

Microsoft, by themselves, is going towards a cloud model. They have an Office365, best offering, which is A1, A3 and A5 but A1 which enables students with their platform. Microsoft basically came to us educated us not only on selling their products but including the overall soft skills of my entire sales team backend team, how to speak to an educational institutions, what to speak, what not to speak, how to manage them on a day to day basis, how and all those things. So Microsoft has really taken a 360-degree approach to enable partners to be fully equipped with this to sell and implement hybrid learning solutions based on Microsoft Teams and O365 by A1 initiatives. Microsoft has other initiatives like Saksham and Shikha for educators within the school, enabling them and making their soft skills better to implement or to teach students via online media. However, Microsoft has taken a lot of initiatives to enable educators within the school to impart better quality education on an online basis.

Also Read: Exclusive Interview with Biren Yadav, MD, Bluecom Infotech

What are the different opportunities for Partners in the Edu Tech sector?

Opportunity is everywhere. You take the street and you walk along that street for two or three kilometres, wherever you see school classes, like NEET, CAT, engineering entrance and medical entrance exams preparation centres, everybody needs it. Since below, when there was no vaccine available in India, parents were afraid of sending students to the schools though they're missing all the fun in their transforming age parents are not allowing students to go to school so it is online only. So you just walk to three-kilometre take any street not only in Mumbai or Delhi, Pune but you go anywhere in small cities like Kolhapur, Satara, Nagpur or any small village and you just approach them. and say I am here to help you to get you on a better platform. So the opportunities are infinite and everybody needs it. It is something like a mobile. With everybody needs it today.