The employee medical checkup is a special facility from the employer to create a strong bond between the company and the staff. The team can perform in a better way and better performance means more progress for employees and the company. Regular employee health checkup helps employees to keep a track on their health status, maintain a healthy lifestyle and work-life balance.
Pongal, also referred to as Thai Pongal is a multi-day Hindu harvest festival celebrated by Tamils in India. It is a celebration to thank the Sun, Mother Nature and the various farm animals that help to contribute to a bountiful harvest.
Employee recognition awards go deeper than gift cards and trinkets. It’s an opportunity to make employees feel appreciated and valued. It assures them their hard work and good behaviour is being recognized, creating a sense of belonging and improving engagement.
Award felicitation of CEO on being awarded
“CA Entrepreneur – Rising Star” By ICAI- Jan 2021
Deepavali or Diwali is the Hindu festival of lights. It symbolises the spiritual “victory of light over darkness, good over evil, and knowledge over ignorance.
Shiksha Finance New launch the LAP (Loan Against Property) for Asset, Business cash flow/salary, IRTS. Fulfill the required eligibility criteria based on your occupation to avail of the loan. Refer to the below-mentioned Loan Against Property eligibility criteria to know more.
Individuals who are eligible for a loan against property:
For their details please contact: 9566016761
Mail Id: Services@shikshafinance.com
Mr. V.L. Ramakrishnan and Mr. Jacob Abraham are co-founders of Shiksha Finance, an education finance company that provides loans to affordable private schools and low-income students in India.
After a three decade long wait, the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 was a welcome change for the Indian education sector. The NEP is a set of policies formulated by the Government of India to guide the development of the education sector and promote quality education for its citizens. The first education policy was introduced in 1968 and a second was formulated in 1986, which was subsequently revised in 1992. The 2020 policies aim to transform education in the country and equip students with the right tools to enter the dynamic and technologically advanced workplace. These policies are India’s step towards the United Nations Sustainable Goal 4: Quality Education.
There is no better investment towards a society’s future than the high-quality education of the youth. Rightly so, the new policy commits to significantly raising educational investment. The Centre and the States will work together to increase the public investment in the education sector to reach 6% of GDP from around 4% of GDP currently.
Financial support will be provided to various critical components of education and decent service conditions at schools will be ensured so that teachers and students are comfortable and inspired to teach and learn in their schools. Adequate and safe infrastructure, computing devices, internet, libraries, and sports and recreational resources will be provided to all schools to ensure that teachers and students have a safe, inclusive, and effective learning environment.
Inclusion for children of all genders and for children with disabilities will be a priority. NEP 2020 has introduced the “Gender Inclusion Fund” and “Special Education Zones” to build the nation’s capacity to provide equitable quality education for all girls as well as transgender students, differently-abled students, and students from socio-economic disadvantaged groups. The Fund will help improve access to sanitation and toilets, bicycles, and conditional cash transfers. It will also provide for special hostels in dedicated regions, bridge courses, and financial assistance through fee waivers and scholarships among others.
There is an impending need to improve Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER). The GER is a measure used in the education sector to determine the number of students enrolled in school at several different grade levels Many states and districts of India, like Bihar (13.6%), West Bengal (19.3%), and Jharkhand (19.1%), have a GER below the national average of 25%. The Higher Education Finance Corporation can grant long term loans for this purpose with a goal to bring the GER of these districts and states to the national average of in 10 years. The NEP 2020 focuses on increasing the national GER to 50% by 2023.
The Government’s National Scholarship Portal (NSP) can be modeled as a Public-Private-Partnership, with a private-sector board to oversee the organization. 50% of the funding can be raised from citizens all over India on a 100% tax exemption, with the government putting in 50% of the total.
Innovative devices such as social impact bonds present an interesting alternative by which purpose-driven investors can focus on impact delivery, even if it generates lower returns than a purely commercial investment would.
As education shifts to digital mediums, schools, colleges, and institutes will increasingly require financing to improve their digital infrastructure. In recent years, many NBFCs and private financing companies apart from banks have emerged to offer fund Infrastructure loans for schools, colleges, and institutes providing vocational and professional courses.
The cost of higher education is increasing gradually, and aspirants search for good options to avail education loans. These students serve as an attractive target market for financial services providers. Financial service companies have the opportunity to collaborate with the National Scholarship Portal to support students receiving scholarships. These companies can also partner with educational institutions to offer loans and financial support to the students enrolled in such institutions. Increased focus on vocational education in NEP 2020 would also result in the need for financing such vocational courses. The increased technology adoption that the NEP 2020 would bring about in areas of online learning, e-program delivery, teacher training, or e-assessments will serve as a challenge for low-income students in terms of affordability, access to devices, and the internet. Such students would require financing, not only for their tuition fees but also for the equipment and supplies required for their education.
In a country like ours where the scale of requirements is this large, such partnerships can support purpose-driven institutions and help transform the education system.
About V.L. Ramakrishnan (Ramki), Founder and CEO, Shiksha Finance
A Chartered Accountant, Ramakrishnan (Ramki) is the CEO of Shiksha and oversees the broad strategy and overall business. Before Shiksha, Ramki was the co-founder and the CFO of a Suryodaya Microfinance (a leading microfinance institution that transformed into a small finance bank). Ramki has extensive experience on the ground and has over 25 years of experience in the financial services space with extensive experience in retail lending at organizations such as Development Credit Bank, GE Capital, and Cholamandalam Finance.
About Jacob Abraham, Founder, and COO, Shiksha Finance
Jacob is the Chief Operating Officer at Shiksha and oversees finance, operations, and IT. A Chartered Accountant, Jacob has over 18 years of experience across finance and insurance companies, with significant expertise in finance, strategy, credit, and underwriting. He has worked with Royal Sundaram Insurance, Chola Insurance, Cholamandalam Finance, and PwC.
In conversation with V.L. Ramakrishnan, CEO and Co-founder of Shiksha Finance
What new technology has come up since the last year in the education sector?
Big Data, Machine Learning, and the Internet of Things (IoT) were the biggest educational technology trends of 2019. However, distance learning has become the one trend that rules them all. The COVID-19 pandemic has drastically changed the way we teach and learn. Students now have to get used to distance learning via digital platforms due to social distancing. Even though some schools are reopening, this trend may continue until 2021.
What are the challenges you are facing since Covid?
The nationwide lockdown in India had adversely impacted our customers who own and operate schools, and parents from low-income backgrounds, due to closure of schools and reduced incomes. Our disbursements were subdued during this period.
We launched new short term loan products for our existing school and student loan customers. These short-term loan products were designed to provide assistance to our customers and help them overcome the challenges from impaired incomes and cash flows due to COVID-19 disruptions.
What are your expansion plans?
Shiksha started operations in Tamil Nadu and we are now present in Pondicherry, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, and Tamil Nadu, operating out of 38 branches. We plan to deepen our presence in the existing geographies and intend to expand to three other states in the next 18 to 24 months.
What is the current loan book size and the way forward in 2021?
Since Zephyr Peacock’s investment in FY19, we have grown our loan book by 70% to INR 1.8 billion as of March 2020. We have disbursed loans worth over INR 3.5 billion to serve the needs of low-cost private schools and students from low-income backgrounds. Shiksha expects to disburse loans worth INR 7.5 billion in the next 24 to 30 months.
What is the impact of the NEP on education financing?
The Policy commits to significantly raising educational investment, as there is no better investment towards a society’s future than the high-quality education of our young people.
Impact on School Financing
As education shifts to digital mediums, schools, colleges, and other educational institutes will increasingly require financing to improve their digital infrastructure. In recent years, many NBFCs and private financing companies apart from banks have emerged to offer infrastructure loans for schools, colleges and institutes providing vocational and professional courses.
Financial support will be provided to various critical elements and components of education, such as decent and pleasant service conditions at schools. Adequate and safe infrastructure, computing devices, internet, libraries, and sports and recreational resources will be provided to all schools to ensure that teachers and students, including children of all genders and children with disabilities, receive a safe, inclusive, and effective learning environment and are comfortable and inspired to teach and learn in their schools.
Impact on Student Financing
The cost of higher education is increasing gradually, and aspirants search for good options to avail education loans. These students serve as an attractive target market for financial services providers. Financial service companies have the opportunity to collaborate with the National Scholarship Portal to support students receiving scholarships. These companies can also partner with educational institutions to offer loans and financial support to the students enrolled in such institutions.
Increased focus on vocational education in NEP 2020 would also result in the need for financing the fees of such vocational courses. Additionally, the increased technology adoption that the NEP 2020 would bring about in areas of online learning, e-program delivery, teacher training or e-assessments will serve as a challenge for low-income students in terms of affordability, access to devices and internet. Such students would require financing, not only for their tuition fees but also for the equipment and supplies required for their education.
The Government of India will constitute a ‘Gender-Inclusion Fund’ to build the nation’s capacity to provide equitable quality education for all girls as well as transgender students. This will help in gaining access to sanitation and toilets, bicycles, conditional cash transfers, special hostels in dedicated regions, bridge courses, and financial assistance through fee waivers and scholarships etc. to be offered under National Education Policy 2020
“A strong woman looks a challenge in the eye and gives it a wink.” – Happy women’s day to all
