In this article. I have shared views on “Parents Fume as edtech Platforms Force Them to Buy Online Courses”
Several parents have highlighted their plight on social media and professional networking sites as representatives from online education providers continue to pressure them to purchase courses, even as the government starts to take action to improve edtech platforms like BYJU’s.
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In response to the aggressive misselling of courses to parents, the Ministry of Consumer Affairs recently criticized edtech companies during a meeting with them and the self-regulatory organization India edtech Consortium (IEC).
“Hey there, WhiteHat Jr. and BYJU’S! Although I am encouraging my daughter to start studying coding and to work with you guys on her IIT JEE preparation, she simply isn’t interested. Nowadays, children don’t pay attention to their parents.
All she wants to do is create art. So please don’t call me trying to sell me these plans or devices “Prashant Sharma, a consultant with a passion for storytelling who works in company development, published a message on LinkedIn.
Parents throughout the nation were inundated with similar circumstances after reading his post, which was fueled by the edtech salespeople’ relentless and aggressive course pitching.
The vice president of Dentsu Creative India, Srikant Ganesh, commented on Sharma’s experience and said he can completely identify.
“My 9-year-old kid is more interested in speed-cubing, keyboarding, and chess than he is in computers or coding in general. The BYJUs and WhiteHats of the world, in my opinion, are aware that children nowadays are capable of more than just learning how to code. They also understand that children have their own minds and should not be forced to follow a particular path. Such brands should cease causing this phony FOMO, and the calls should stop as well “Ganesh cried out.
IEC, a self-regulatory organization, declared its commitment to defending consumer interests after the Center took serious note of edtech companies’ misrepresenting courses to parents. IEC also noted that it had resolved all complaints received up to June.
Fresh complaints, however, have appeared on social media platforms this month, suggesting that the issue has not been fully resolved.
“I experienced this. It is necessary to train #Byju’s sales staff on how to respond to a “No.” This happened to me personally when a representative contacted and my wife said we don’t want to enroll.
I had to step in when he continued calling. How could we say no when he continued claiming that your child was already enrolled on their website? He didn’t seem to get it, thus I had to eventually use my desi side to explain it to him. I filed a complaint on their website, but the following day it was deleted “Dheeraj Grover, senior manager of human resources at VVDN Technologies, posted.
At the German company Covestro, Thangarathnavel M., Head of Business Development-South Asia, stated on LinkedIn that he could completely relate to that.
“Although I had registered my son two years prior, it was of little use. They started calling me again a few months ago to sign up my son for the physical education sessions. However, the calls continued even after I declined. I once yelled at one of the callers and begged him to give me Mr. BYJU’s mobile number. The phone calls have since stopped. I hope they stop this permanently “He explained his situation.
The Centre issued a warning to edtech companies earlier this month about unfair business practices.
Consumer Affairs Secretary Rohit Kumar Singh stated during a meeting with the IEC that strict regulations would be created to ensure transparency if self-regulation did not stop unfair business practices.
In addition to IEC member businesses upGrad, BYJU’S, Unacademy, Vedantu, Great Earning, WhiteHat Jr., and Sunstone, representatives of the IAMAI also attended the meeting.
Unfair business practices and deceptive advertising for the Indian edtech industry were hot topics throughout the discussion.
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