Play Schools in India are not the same as one would expect them a decade ago (2003). Often known as Pre-Schools in India, these had a very insignificant presence. Kids play school in India were hardly a choice for the parents who often had a senior or an elder to take care of the siblings. Very few parents opted for a kids play school as it wasn’t considered important or necessary. The existent play way schools in India were not standardised and parents didn’t have much trust in them. Only the desperate parents would opt for them. A number of promoting factors however changed the scenario. Science and means of media raised the awareness amongst the parents about the early child care. Scientists had proven that early childhood learning was the most important phase of life because almost 90% of a child’s brain is developed by the age of 5 years. The increase in the number of nuclear families, increasing number of working women, qualitative education providers and rise in disposable income allowed the growth and popularity of Indian play schools. Franchise for pre-primary schools in India was unheard of but the investment of international players in this sector promoted this concept in a major way. Bachpan, EuroKids International, Jumbokids, Kidzee, Tree House Education are some of the few important players. Though setting and running a successful Preschool is not an easy task but the gains from it are worth the hard work. The reason for this is that this sector of education falls beyond the regulation of conventional schooling. These schools are free from other concerns which affect the conventional schooling setup like student-teacher ratio, availability of qualified faculty, outcome of annual result and manmy more. Anyone can set up such institutes provided they have the required finance and infrastructure. Early school education is billion dollar industry and there is an untapped market making it a lucrative prospect.

Franchise for Play School in India

One can easily point out that real presence of play way schools in India has been due to the franchising by some well known names. EuroKids International Ltd. is considered a pioneer in this education industry. Its presence setup a framework for the then unorganised sector. Active Participation of national and international names showed the potential in this business. Reputed names like Applekids, Bachpan, Edify Education, Jumbokids, Kidzee, Kangaroo Kids, Mother’s Pride, Shemrock etc. grasped the concept of franchising. Training for running such schools is provided by the concerned companies which ensure delivery of quality service. Going by the Crisil research report “Preschool business is expected to touch Rs 13,300 crore by 2015-16, out of which branded preschools are expected to contribute approximately Rs 4,500 crore”. As per KPMG Report “About 11.5% of urban children between two and four years are going to preschools in India.” So who wouldn’t like to their share of the pie? The success of franchising concept has really paid off. More and more Play School franchisers offer partnership not only in earning profits but also in imparting early childhood education. The penetration of play schools in urban area is significant and whilst in rural areas it is till to pick up as of 2013. The concentration of play schools is the highest in big cities like Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Mumbai and other major cities. Also, there is large room for improvement in the quality of education. Undoubtedly, these factors make franchising a viable option for new players and the existent one’s. The financial gains of setting up a play school are but obvious and the unobvious can be seen with the participation of couples, women entrepreneurship, improvement in the infrastructural facilities and raise in the standards of practices amongst the participators.