Career in Education Consulting

With the growth in the industrial sector and the boom in the service industry, there has been a sharp growth in demand for highly qualified professional in all fields. As the economy goes through its fluctuations and cycles of booms and troughs, a new industry of experts called “Consultants” emerged some years ago.

Consultants are known to be experts in a particular field and advise other companies / individuals on the best course of action for any particular problem. The role of consultants has been widening over the years with the need to be more competitive and provide a high quality product.

There are various kinds of Consultants that exist today – Management Consultants, IT Consultants, Financial Consultants, Placement Consultants and Education Consultants to name a few. We are now going to look at the role of an Education Consultant in detail.

The Job
As this field is so vast having areas of specialization, different skills and type of training are required for different levels. Areas of specialization include teaching, training, management, audit etc. Each job calls for a different expertise.

Setting up New Schools / Colleges
With the growth in the economy, increase in income levels and the sops given by the government to schools, there has been a huge spurt in the number of business houses and individuals wanting to start new schools. This is well matched by the huge demand for newer and better schools and the willingness of the parents to spend more money on a better education for their child. These business houses have the financial means to set up schools but do not necessarily have the where withal or knowledge in this industry and thus look for experts from the field to help them set up the school / college. This is where the Education Consultant steps in and takes over the setting up of the institution. Most often the role of the education consultant is to contract for a turnkey project i.e. set up the school / College and leave it to run by other professionals. Else they take on responsibility of setting up the school and running it on an ongoing basis. The jobs that the Education Consultant would take on are -

 

• Conceptualizing the vision of the institution
• Creating the business plan and financial projections
• Identify area / property
• Work with architect to plan ideal lay out
• Oversee building and interiors – furniture designs, blackboards, computer rooms etc.
• Work with vendors to source all infrastructural needs e.g. computers, play equipment etc.
• Create curriculum of all classes and sample teaching sessions
• Recruit and train teachers
• Recruit administrative staff
• Create and document processes
• Determine fee structures
• Help in recruiting first batch of students

 

Existing Institutions

• Conduct audit on schools / colleges – What is working well and what is not
• Rectify outcomes of audit
• Create changes in curriculum, administration etc.
• Teacher training and up gradation of information
• Documenting processes
• Suggest curriculum changes 

Personality Traits

• Analytical & Logical
• Ability to recognize patterns
• Excellent interpersonal & Communication skills
• Team-Worker
• High level of integrity
• Liking for and an understanding of children
• Organizing capacity

Salary

Starting salaries in this field range from Rs. 15,000/- to Rs. 20,000/- per month. But after some experience most people would branch off and start consulting independently in which case they would automatically be earning a much higher salary.

Job Prospects

Most people who enter the field of Education Consulting held prior jobs as teachers / lecturers / management and freshers are also joining this field. Some companies that do education consulting are iDiscoveri, EduCare, EduComp, Teachers Foundation, and Learning Today etc.

Study Route
As mentioned above, most people who enter this field are teachers / professors. Thus one route to get in to this area is by dong your BEd. Other then this you could just look at joining a company and learn on the job as if the education consulting firm finds in you the desire to create institutions that provide and impart quality education there would be interested in hiring you.

Places to Study
B.Ed. / M.Ed. courses are offered by the following universities to graduates and postgraduates in any subject

• Nagaland University, Lumami, Kohima 797001
• North Eastern Hill University, Shillong 793022
• Arunachal University, PO Doimukh, Itanagar 791111
• Agartala College, Tripura West Agartala, 799004
• Manipur University, Imphal 795003
• Assam University, Silchar 788001
• Dibrugarh University, PO Dibrugarh University, Dibrugarh 786004
• Guwahati University, PO Gopinath Bordoloi Nagar, Guwahati 781014
• University of Burdwan, PO Rajbati, Dist. Burdwan 713104
• University of Calcutta, Senate House, 87 College Street, Calcutta 700073
• Vidyasagar University, Midnapore 721102
• Rabindra Bharati Univ., Calcutta 700050
• Jadavpur University, Calcutta 700032
• Univ. of North Bengal, Darjeeling 734430
• Visva Bharati, PO Shantiniketan 731235
• Lalit Narayan Mithila University, Darbhanga 846008
• Jai Prakash University, Chapra 841301
• Bhagalpur University, Bhagalpur 812007
• Ranchi University, Ranchi 834001
• Patna University, Patna 800005
• BR Ambedkar University, Muzaffarpur 842001
• Berhampur University, Bhanja Bihar, Berhampur 760007, dist. Ganjam
• Sambalpur University, Jyoti Vihar, Burla 768017, Sambalpur
• Utkal University, Po Vani Vihar, Bhubaneshwar 751004

 

Colleges Overseas
USA

• Alabama State University
• California State University, Long Beach
• Mills College
• American University, DC
• University of Delaware
• Florida State University
• Drake University, IA

UK

• University of Delaware
• Florida State University
• University of Kentucky
• International House Newcastle
• Elite College
• Leeds Metropolitan University School of Languages
• The Language Project School, Bristol

Australia

• University of Wollongong
• Macquarie University
• University of New South Wales
• University of Canberra

Source: Compass One

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