The pre-school market in India, which has been growing at a CAGR of over 20 per cent in the last couple of years, is witnessing an increasing shift towards the organised sector.

The segment, which is currently pegged at close to ₹25,000 crore, is largely dominated by unorganised players, said industry sources. However, with parental expectations over early childhood education and care on the rise, the share of organised market is growing at a fast pace.

Growing segment

According to Raman Bajaj, CEO, Little Millennium Education, the share of unorganised market would be as high as 90 per cent, while the organised segment accounts for around 10 per cent. However, the organised market has been growing at over 45 per cent on a year-on-year basis.

“Almost a decade back the market was dominated by the grandmother-run-crèches or similar informal arrangements. Today, parents are looking for an extra edge; something which is scientifically designed, research-backed and outcome-oriented. This is where organised players like us come into play,” Bajaj told BusinessLine .

Little Millennium, which has 600 centres across 100 cities, plans to reach 1,000 centres by 2020.

The growth in working woman population coupled with increasing expenditure on education are expected to drive Indian preschool market in the coming years, sources said.

Companies operating in this segment work primarily through the franchise model to achieve scale of operations.

‘Steady traction’

Delhi-based pre-school chain Shemrock & Shemford Group of Schools has witnessed a ‘steady traction’ in its business in the last couple of years.

“We have been opening 2-3 schools through franchise model every week. We expect the growth momentum to pick up moving forward,” said Amol Arora, Vice-Chairman and Managing Director, Shemrock & Shemford.

The company has 525 centres spread across 125 cities. It also has two branches in Nepal and one in Bangladesh. It is looking to add 100 more centres this year and is also exploring the possibility of venturing into new geographies like Sri Lanka and West Asia.

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