What are Educational Services? Nature, Types & Importance

Education can be seen as the most vital element in the development of human resource in any society. The progression of the education sector is directly associated with the growth in the economic development and national prosperity. Educated individuals can manage themselves and essential resources around them effectively. Innovations and dynamic society can be promoted through education. This is the reason behind the higher significance which is enjoyed by the education in almost all the societies around the world.

Since the last few years, a lot of significance has been given to the marketing of educational services in India. In fact, the education sector is also experiencing the fast changes in terms of its economy and business aspects. Education sector has become more competitive mainly due to the entry of corporate firms from the elementary education level to the highly professional studies. This service sector is tiptoed by the business aspects and marketing has taken the central role in this sector.

Nature of Educational Services

The nature of educational services has been discussed below:

1. Blended Learning: Educational services are mainly the combination of various elements like forums, readings. textbooks, blackboard courses, wikis, e-lectures, face-to-face lectures, etc. Both the online and face-to-face instruction are combined with blended learning events especially related to the learning situations, like budget, study material, target group, learning objectives, attitudes, motivation. etc.
2. Inconsistent: There is a lot of variation in the service quality of the education for different customers. This makes the job of marketers more complicated. It is important for these marketers to make sure that these characteristics of the education service are utilized effectively so that the different requirements of the customers can be fulfilled. In order to deal with problem related to specific features of the education, the use of marketing mix can be done.
3. Traditional and Modern Learning Components: Educational services have certain drawbacks. The features of both of traditional teaching components and modern learning components must be analysed during the service creation process.
4. Service Quality: The quality of the educational product can be improved by significantly improving the educational offerings like, revising the syllabus and adding the recent development taking place in the subject. taking students for industrial visits, conducting workshops and seminars, etc. The varied customers’ expectations can be satisfied with the help of’ experienced instructors and improved infrastructure. By having the suitable combination of all Ps, the customer oriented courses can be offered.
5. Competition: In the coming years, a lot of competition can he expected in the education industry mainly due to the provision of private and foreign institution. Despite having a lot of success in facilitating the education to the common public. India has still a lot to accomplish in this regard as more than one-third part of India still lack literacy.
6. Education as Necessity: In almost all the segments, the significance of education is of utmost significance. A greater opportunity can be explored by the marketers especially in the field of job-focused and application-oriented education resulting from the vast scope of education. Indian education system is facing some major issues such as disorientation to employment-related education and participative education. Marketers arc required to work on these to sustain in this era of globalization.

Types of Educational Services

Education industry is mainly the accumulation of different businesses and organizations which are indulged in facilitating the services and products which are oriented towards the improvement of education quality in the country. The role of education industry in providing public education is quite important as it helps in balancing the demand for products and services which supports the basic education services and the inherent objectives. There are mainly four major classifications of this industry:

Schools/Service Providers

There are various players under this category which are involved in facilitating the elementary and secondary education, alternative/special education services along with the education and management firms, virtual schools, charter schools, public and private education houses. These players have been discussed below:

• Elementary and Secondary Schools: These are the schools which are involved in facilitating the basic literacy needed by the individuals. They help in developing skills like reading and writing along with the fundamentals of history, science, numeracy. mathematics and various other subjects.

• Private Schools: These are the schools which are known as independent or non-state schools. i.e., they are not governed by the local, state or national government but by a private owner. This is the reason why these schools have autonomy in selecting the students and they earn their revenue either in full or parts from the fee which is charged from the students as a tuition fee and therefore they do not rely on the state of central government fur funding.
• Public Schools: As the funding of these schools is done through the public tax revenues thus these are termed as public school. The management of these schools is done by government agencies such as school hoard and any student can enroll here as per the seat availability. Facilitating the quality education to the common public is the main objective of these. As early as 19th century, the presence of public education can be seen along with the many private schools,
• Traditional Universities: A university is mainly involved in facilitating the higher education and research by granting an academic degree in a number of subjects and provides undergraduate and postgraduate education to the students. These organizations arc mainly involved in higher education system. These can be seen as the education institutes where higher learning and research can be availed. There are number of subjects in which undergraduate and postgraduate degree courses can be done. Public funding, private funding, or a combination of both is the main source of funds for these institutions.
• Online Universities: With the help of available resources and the studies which can be conducted over the Internet. different types of undergraduate and postgraduate degree courses are offered online. Online degrees are also the academic degree (normally a college degree but mainly this is used for the high school diplomas and certificate programmes) which are commonly availed with the help of internet completely or partially.
• Open and Distance learning: This is the education system in which the education is provided to those students who are not able to attend the college campus. Self-structured study materials are provided to the students enrolled in the distance learning programme.
• Community Colleges: This is another type of educational institution which has varied meaning in various nations. Commonly. these institutions are involved in offering a number of vocational and technical courses along with the college transfer courses involving the initial two years education in university. Associate degrees, diplomas, or certificates are given to the students.
• Alternative/Special Education Services: These institutions are formed to empower the private school educators and parents to fulfil the needs of students in special cases, This particular segment of institutions especially incorporates the different companies which facilitate the services to the students with special needs which are not fulfilled by the conventional school. They are mainly involved in serving the at-risk students, special need students or the adjudicated students. These facilities are managed by the companies itself or they have contracted either with the juvenile justice departments or school districts.

Supplemental Education Service Providers

These types of institutions are involved in facilitating the higher and vocational education along with the tutorial services, assessment services and learning centres. Some of the supplemental education service providers are as follows:

• Business Schools: These are the colleges which offer degree course in Business Administration and considered as university-level institutions. College of Business, College of Business Administration, School of Business, or School of Business Administration are other common terminologies used for these. Business schools provide education in subjects like entrepreneurship, finance, information systems, marketing, accounting, administration, economics, public relations, strategy, organisational behaviour, business strategy, human resource management, and quantitative methods.
• Trade/Vocational Schools: These types of schools are also known as trade or career schools and they facilitate vocational education to their students. These are the institution in which the skills which are required to perform a particular job are taught. Hence, the main focus here remains on training rather than education. Training in different technical programmes and trades are given by these vocational institutes. The curriculum here is specially designed by the institute itself, keeping the current and future growth potential in mind. There can be different types of methods of instruction depending upon distance learning, or on-the-job to the classroom. The students here are given job-oriented certification.
• Learning Centres: These institutions are involved in providing the education which is not incorporated by the conventional schooling system. These institutions can be seen as the local educational organisation which offer prescriptive education. provide tutoring, test preparation, and other services which are not covered by the conventional secondary and college set up. A lot of development and growth has been witnessed in the last twenty years in this sector, resulting from the societal changes as well as developments in the education sector. Other reasons for the emergence of such learning schools are poor performance of traditional schools and over-ambitious parents.
• Tutoring Services: The students who require additional support in their studies can look for these institutions particularly in the subjects such as math and language skills. These services are offered privately or in a learning centre. Private practising educators, learning centres, tutoring franchises, and other education-focused businesses can facilitate these types of services. Tutors can deliver their services online. in a classroom or onsite (in a one-to-one, one-to-many, and peer-to-peer setup). These services are mainly used by the students to brush up their knowledge in specific subjects and language or to clear the compulsory proficiency tests.

Educational Products and Publishing Sector

The organisations which operate in this sector are mainly involved in production and supply of various educational products and materials. They are mainly active in facilitating the educational products, educational publishing and supplementary educational products. This sector mainly fulfils the demand of the entire public and private education market of diffèrent levels.

• Educational Products: These are the profit-oriented finns which provide the materials, technology, instructional aides, supplies and equipment including c-learning and related technology products, toys, instructional aids, and supplies. But now most of the firms are transforming into digital media, e.g., online reading materials, videos, etc.

• Educational Publishers: This mainly includes the publication houses that are involved in publishing the books newsletters, magazines or online articles which can serve the different educational objectives of customers from education sector.

Education Support Services Sector

Both the support and ancillary services to the education industry are provided by the participants in this sector. In fact, support to above mentioned education sectors is also extended by the education support services. There are various functions associated with the education support services. These services are as follows:

• Education Consultants: In order to satisfy the growing requirements of the education industry, the development of these firms is taking place. Education consultants are mainly the firms and individuals who offer their services to help the families, students, teachers and education institutes in order to resolve the wide variety of problems related to the education. The varied range of issues may include legal assistance required by the student in regards to parental rights or regulations imposed by the government.
• Education Information and Research: Education research are mainly the different methods employing which various dimensions of the education are analysed by the consultants which may include teacher training, student learning, classroom dynamics, teaching methods, and so on. With the growth registered in the education industry, it is expected that education information and research firms will gain more significance.
• Education Investment Services: These are the services which mainly concentrate on the financial and consulting issues related to the education industry. The different types of services provided here help the firm in incorporation, fund-raising, debt financing, equity issue, mergers and acquisitions, etc. As the cost of educating is increasing day by day which requires separating a major part of the money on a side, thus a proper and extensive planning is required.
• Education Policy Specialists: These are mainly the different types of individuals and organizations which are involved in facilitating the research analysis and consulting related to the various policies associated with education. Not only the firms operating in the education industry give importance to issues in education policy, but also the agencies and regulators of education industry (such as school districts, state and federal governments, superintendents, etc.) give high consideration to these issues. Policymakers’ understanding towards teaching needs gets broadened by going through the various policy issues. They then facilitate improved policy discussion with data and relevant information which has been gathered through research
• Technology Service Providers: The vital role which is being played by the technology companies has been extended. In order to effectively manage the operations, collaborating, conducting tests, evaluation of students and facilitating the content of course, these technology service providers offer infrastructures to these education institutions. The enrolment and efficiency of the education institutions arc improved by these service providers along with assisting them to improve and automize their business activities and to enhance the experience and retention of students. They offer their services only for the education industry and are mainly the group of various experts who have a vast knowledge of the best practices which are adopted in this industry.

Importance of Educational Services

The significance of education services can be understood with the help of fòllowing points:

1. Facilitates a Better Life: We all value education. The place of education in the life of each one of us is quite significant. It is very important to be educated to have a luxurious life or for living a better life. Education is imparted by the education industry which has a very significant role in the transformation of a person so that he can lead a better life and become a better person in the society. Therefore, educational services which facilitate the growth of education are also significant.
2. Promotes Good Habits Values and Awareness: In this era of cut-throat competition, after food, shelter, clothing, the significance of education is utmost. The solution of many issues can be found with the help of education. Good habits, awareness and higher values are inculcated by it.
3. Enables Personal Growth: The personal growth and success are greatly determined by the educational services. Greater the knowledge greater will be the growth of a person. A student can become the member of a prestigious organisation, institution or company by having good education and a professional degree.