Pre-schools are spreading fast to tier-2 and tier-3 cities too

Three-year-old Akansha Mitra is busy learning counting these days in her new school. After shifting to Mysore two months ago, Akansha’s parents were a worried lot as they had to hunt for a good pre-school for their daughter. However, thanks to the mushrooming of branded pre-schools in the smaller towns, finding one for their daughter was not difficult.

To meet the rising demand, pre-schools increasingly are spreading their wings beyond the urban set up. According to players in the industry, there has been a substantial increase in the demand for pre-schools in tier-2 and tier-3 cities in the recent years.

“Essentially, parents are seeking quality educational experience for their children in smaller towns (too). Our observation is that they are as discerning as parents in the metros,” said VA Ramakrishna, CEO, The Little Crest, a prominent preschool in the city. Interestingly, The Little Crest grew out of its first location in Tumkur. Ramakrishna aims to open more centres in small towns over the next few years.

The pre-school market in the smaller cities is growing at a whopping 120% per annum, much higher than the growth in the cities. Places like Mysore and Mangalore are registering high growth rate in particular.

According to Amol Arora, managing director, Shemrock Play School, the demand for such schools in smaller towns has particularly increased in the last three-four years. “Initially, players in the industry were apprehensive about venturing into tier-1 and tier-II cities as the scope for growth was less. However, with increasing disposable income, more and more working parents are looking to put their kids in the best schools,” said Arora, adding that a change in small town culture has also contributed to growth of such schools.

“The attitude people earlier had was, ‘why put such a small kid in school!’ But slowly, parents are realising that a kid needs proper exposure before getting into a formal school.” Shemrock today gets 40% of its business from small cities as compared with a mere 10% four years ago.

Times are changing:Ipsita Mitra, mother of Akansha, puts forwards her point. “Initially, my in-laws, who are from Durgapur, opposed the idea of putting our daughter in a preschool as they felt it was too early for her. However, when they came down to Mysore and saw other kids of her age enjoying at the school, they relaxed a little. It is all about changing with time,” she said.

Interestingly, opening preschools in towns like Mysore, Mangalore and Tumkur turns out to be more lucrative for players as the rentals are less, while at the same time the infrastructure is more spread out. “The infrastructure is far bigger in these places than in urban cities.Our centre in Mysore has a lawn and playing area. This is unthinkable in Bangalore,” said Arora, who is all set to open another centre in Mysore by January 2013.
Al Deivanathan, CMD at Apple Kids said overall cost at smaller cities is around 50% less than in metros. Apple Kids has its centres in Selam, Madurai, Coimbatore etc.