Abacus firms count gains as bead-training buzz grows

Abacus training firms are making a killing as eager parents open the purse strings to hone the skills of their little geniuses.

The child skill enhancement market is worth $1 billion this year, as per estimates by Religare Institutional Research.

Abacus training, which facilitates quick calculations through use of bead-based apparatus, has a lion’s share of this market.

Firms offering abacus training are riding a wave of demand as awareness about this Malaysian concept grows. Typically, the course is for kids in the 4-14 years category.

“When we first started 12 years ago in Chennai, not many were willing to join as the concept was nascent and the benefits were largely unknown,” said AV Sekhar, vice-president, UCMAS India, one of the first players in this segment.

Today, parents know that abacus training doesn’t just help in mathematics, but also helps improve a child’s concentration, focus, memory, visualisation and listening skills, said Dinesh Victor, managing director of SIP Academy India. “Earlier we had to gather parents and execute awareness programmes and demonstrations. Later, after our first batch of students completed the course, we roped them in to create awareness,” said Victor, adding that they also held national competitions to promote the concept.

Indeed, there has been no looking back once demand took hold.
Starting with just 80-100 students in the first batch in Chennai, in 1999, a clutch of abacus training firms has so far covered more than 16-18 lakh kids across the country.

The players have drawn up ambitious expansion plans, too.
SIP Academy, which has 590 centres, plans to add 100-120 centres every year.

UCMAS, which has 2,400 centres, hopes to grow at 10-15% a year.

Hyderabad based Genius Abacus and Vedic Maths has some 225 centres, while Chennai based Brainobrain Kids Academy has 600. Both are anticipating healthy expansion.

But challenges remain.

First, demand is dependent on factors including proximity of a centre to a residential area, as well as parents’ ability to shell out Rs500-600 per month for the course, which consists of eight levels and takes two years to complete, said Victor.

Another challenge is getting franchisees to operate the centres, especially in new locations.

Franchisees are often not sure about the way the course will pan out and the demand it will generate, say industry experts.

What’s more, as the course extends to higher levels, it gets more challenging for the kids, and several drop out due to inability to devote time along with regular studies.

“We hold sessions of 2 hours each week at the centres. However, kids need to practise at home daily for at least 15-20 minutes,” said Sekhar.

To beat the challenges, companies have devised plans to expand their outreach.

Brainobrain Kids Academy, which started in 2004 with just abacus training, today delivers training for kids in speed writing, memory games, creative writing, neuro-linguistic programming as well, said M Ramkrishnan, director in-charge, Karnataka operations.

“We have brought in programmes which help in language processes, thought processes and thinking skills.”

“There is demand,” said Ramkrishnan, explaining that parents are ready to wait for 4-5 months for the programme in case of non-availability of seats.

Genius Abacus, on the other hand, has introduced Vedic math for kids from class 5 to those doing post graduation, said Raji Reddy, founder and CEO.

“Our abacus programme is for kindergarten to class 4 kids. For older kids, we have Vedic math.”

UCMAS and SIP have started tying up with schools to impart abacus training to kids after school hours.

According to Sekhar, UCMAS has reached 15 schools (6,000 kids) in the last three months. “Our teachers train school teachers to deliver the programmes.”

According to Victor, SIP has tied up with 90-100 schools where SIP teachers directly go and impart training to kids on weekends.