Shaping future prospects franchise way With the rising popularity of kindergarten and play school education, MDN

Edify Education came into existence to provide world class education through Edify Sch ools. The company opted franchise route to expand its presence. In an interview, Kavitha Jain, VP, MDN Edify Education Pvt Ltd talks about the companys franchise venture. Abha Garyali (AG): Brief us about the conception and success of Edify Education? Kavitha Jain (KJ): MDN Edify Education (P) Ltd is an initiative of DRS Group. It is a renowned business house with well diversified interests and a combined tur nover of Rs 500 crore. MDN Edify Education (P) Ltd boasts of the following succe ssful divisions: DRS International School, DRS Kids, Edify Kids and Edify School . Establishment of DRS International School at Hyderabad in 2003 and a chain of over 100 preschools across India under the brand name, DRS Kids and Edify Kids h ave made its presence in the field of education. In 2010, MDN Edify Education op ened the door to world class education through Edify Schools making internationa l standard education accessible and affordable to all children. AG: How is Edify Education different from other educational companies? What is i ts USP? KJ: Edify Education is 3C based education giving importance to character, compet ence and content. Here skills like writing and reading, listening and speaking are coupled with evaluation of the childs ability to conceptualise process inform ation and apply it in a creative manner. Our other USPs are: We follow global oriented methodology and best facilities supplemented with crea tive inquiry based learning methodology of Primary Level Program. Field trips to places of cultural, scientific and environmental interest are con ducted after each unit of lesson. Online parent login to view their child progress and the curriculum planned by E di Click. AG: When did the company initiate franchising? From where did you get the inspi ration to opt for franchising as a mode of expansion? KJ: The company initiated franchising in the year 2006. We drew our inspiration to opt for franchising as a mode of expansion from the success of our first DRS International School, which was established in the year 2003, at present success fully running with 1200 students. It is affiliated to CBSE/IB/CAMBRIDGE, incorpo rating PYP and DP in the schools pedagogy. AG: What are the various courses that Edify Education provides to the students? KJ: Edify Education provides preschool (play group to upper Kindergarten) and K1 2 (Kindergarten grade12) courses to the students. AG: Do you think that franchising has played an important role in the success of the company? How it has done so? KJ: Yes, definitely. It is through franchising that Edify Education has made its presence felt in the field of education. AG: How many franchises does Edify Education have and in which cities? KJ: Edify can boast of over 100 preschools across India and five K12 schools in Ranipet, Nagpur, Amravati, Bengaluru and Hyderabad. AG: What are the qualities that are needed by your prospective franchisees? How much investment is needed by them? KJ: We look for people who are passionate about providing quality education and ready to invest in the project. For Edify Kids prospective franchisees need to i nvest Rs one to eight lakh depending on cities and for Edify School they need to invest between Rs 8 10 crore depending on the city.

AG: What are your future plans in terms of expansion through franchising? KJ: Our future plans in terms of expansion through franchising are to have 250 Edify Kids preschools and 50 Edify Schools by the year 2015. AG: What training and support do you provide to your franchisees? KJ: We have training programme for principals, facilitators, admin, IT, counsell or and non- teaching staff also. There is constant support extended to our franc hisees from land selection, operations, hiring, procurement, training, software, curriculum to SOPs.