K-12 Teachers in Gurgaon - Private Equity Impact on Schools

Blackstone, the world’s largest alternative asset manager, was reportedly eyeing a stake in a large Indian school chain last November. That is also when KKR, the world’s second-largest private equity firm, which already holds a majority stake in one of the country's biggest educational group, increased its investments in the group. And they are not alone. Even some of India’s largest private equity investors are increasingly millions of dollars into K-12 schools. Gurgaon, with its dense corporate ecosystem and dual-income families, is one of the hubs for these schools, apart from Bangalore and Hyderabad. But why are investors interested in schools? And aren’t schools in India supposed to be non-profit? I explore these questions in my latest full-page for The Indian Express— how private equity invests in education despite the sector’s regulatory structure, what makes schools attractive to investors, and the changes and concerns that follow when institutional capital enters classrooms. I spoke to investors, school operators, teachers, parents, students and people who have watched this space for a long time, to understand how classrooms are changing: from expansion and standardisation to questions around teacher autonomy, school culture and how to see this phenomenon. Link to the full story in comments. PS. If you are a student, teacher, school operator, investor or anyone who works in this space, I would like to hear from you, as we want to keep reporting on this evolving space. Norbert Fernandes Piyush Gupta Prajodh Rajan Jai Decosta Lighthouse Learning Group K12 Techno Services Pvt. Ltd. Heritage International Xperiential School (HIXS Gurgaon) Orchids The International School Sridhar Rajagopalan Amitabh Jhingan Dr. Ameeta Mulla Wattal