The Hindu Business Line : Tally ho!

Abacus learning centres now dot many cities, offering mental arithmetic courses to develop mind skills. A look at their business model to find out if the numbers add up.

Enter this classroom and you will see children busy with something that looks like a toy — tiny brown beads compiled neatly in columns. On the wall is propped a similar toy, though bigger with large, shiny yellow beads.

The teacher calls out a complex calculation, almost like an open challenge. A little boy, barely seven, comes forward and recites a seemingly funny rhyme. He also moves the yellow beads up and down and gets the answer down pat. No furious adding, counting or subtracting! Amazed?

Welcome to the world of abacus education, where rigid arithmetic takes a backseat and visuals and imagination gain centre-stage. Here children learn to use the abacus, an ancient Chinese invention, to solve basic arithmetic sums with speed and accuracy. Institutes, which offer abacus education, claim that they use arithmetic as a tool to develop mind skills, memory and lateral thinking abilities.

Popular in Asian countries like Malaysia, Taiwan and Thailand, abacus education is relatively new in India. But several entrepreneurs have been quick to tap the business potential of this non-formal education tool.

In Chennai, for example, newly opened centres such as UC Mas India, Smart Brain India and Aloha Mental Arithmetic India, offer mental arithmetic courses for children between four and 13 years of age. The course is spread over two years and is held once a week, usually during weekends.

Scientific theories associate the left hemisphere of the brain with numerical and academic abilities, and the right hemisphere with creativity and intelligence. Proponents of abacus education claim that while formal education focuses merely on left-brain development, the abacus brings about "whole brain development".

"If the brain is not developed at an early age, one's mental abilities can start declining by 20 years of age. That's why we must tap them young," says K. Kumaran, Managing Director, Aloha.

Franchise model

The brain gyms — as these institutes are called — are not stand-alone entities, but, instead, operate through a network of local franchises in urban and semi-urban areas. The reach and popularity of abacus education can be gauged from the burgeoning franchisee network.

UC Mas, which first brought abacus education to India, has its parent company in Malaysia. After a modest beginning in 1999 with five centres in Chennai and about 250 students, it now boasts the largest network in the country with over 600 centres and about 70,000 students.

Basheer Ahamed, head of UC Mas India, left a 15-year-old job in Kuwait to take over the business from his father-in-law. "My father-in-law was running it on my behalf in India. He has knowledge of this system as he has lived in Malaysia, where abacus education is extremely popular," says Ahamed.

"Being the market leader, we have experienced phenomenal growth. We now have one franchisee every 2.5 km in Chennai, with about 76 centres," says D.I. Sundar Raj, administrative manager, UC Mas India.

Similarly, Kumaran chucked a lucrative career in film production and distribution to listen to his inner voice. The turning point came on a trip to Malaysia where his friend's daughter astonished him with her felicity with numbers. "In seconds, she was reeling off answers to complex calculations. I was so intrigued that I visited the class and saw several children enthusiastically answering the questions. I then decided that this was what I would introduce in India."

That's how Aloha was started in 2002 with less than 20 students. Today, the institute boasts 10,000 students spread across 183 centres in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Delhi, Chattisgarh and Punjab. In Chennai alone, Aloha has 55 centres that account for one-fourth of its student strength. It charges a monthly fee of Rs 450 per student. Currently, Aloha's turnover has touched Rs 5 crore and the company is growing steadily at about 25 to 30 per cent annually.

Thailand-based Smart Brain is just over a year old in India. Its managing director, S. Anand, ran a software firm earlier. But his heart longed for something else. "My brothers were into corporate counselling. Together we surveyed the education scene. That's when we discovered the abacus concept. We found it new and interesting and decided to jump into the fray."

In 2003, Smart Brain India started with 16 centres and 200 students in Tamil Nadu. Today, it has a turnover of Rs 1 crore and a profit margin of 15 per cent. Spread across Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat, Smart Brain has 110 centres and 6,000 students. It has 32 centres in Chennai alone.

A `fair' deal

For those unwilling to invest big, fearing lack of returns, the franchisee system offers a viable alternative. Interestingly, a large number of the franchisees are women, especially housewives.

Explains Anand of Smart Brain, "We look at educated couples, housewives and graduates, preferably below 35 years. Seventy per cent of our franchisee owners are women. After a short, unproductive stint with male faculty, we now prefer women faculty. I think they are more adept at handling children and creating a comfort level."

A relatively small investment of Rs 70,000, can fetch franchisees a return of about Rs 15,000 a month. This includes the cost of licence and training fees. With 20 to 50 students each, the franchisees normally break even within three to four months.

Several of the women franchisees have taken on multiple roles — as faculty, employer and co-ordinator. R. Nithya, who was a homemaker until four years ago, today owns three successful UC Mas centres that account for 1,000 students and 17 teachers. "This venture has exposed me to new ideas and given me tremendous confidence. Initially, I was keen on increasing student strength but now that it has touched 1,000, numbers don't matter," she says.

Similarly, P.K. Shobha is both a franchisee and a faculty member at Smart Brain. She also acts as a co-ordinator for international schools in Udhagamandalam and Kodaikanal. Shobha feels that the learning centres entail low investment and risks. "Also, this has given me an opportunity to explore my business potential and interact with different people, which I love doing."

Part-time jobs

The abacus learning centres have also opened up gainful opportunities for college students, who work as part-time faculty. "It is definitely a value addition on my CV. Also, I plan to set up my own franchise," says A. Shobana, a faculty member at Smart Brain and a final year MBA student.

Although abacus learning has stirred up interest in several quarters, industry sources believe that a large section of the market remains untapped. Kumaran of Aloha reckons that the abacus learning industry is currently worth nearly Rs 20 crore. This, he expects, could grow to Rs 200 crore in just two years!

Looking ahead...

UC Mas aims to enrol two lakh students by 2005 and set up 5,000 centres by 2007. Smart Brain plans to open centres in Delhi, Kolkata, Maharashtra and Chattisgarh. Aloha, too, has expansion plans and aims to cross 500 centres by 2005. With approximately 50 students at each centre, Aloha's student strength is expected to rise to 25,000. With the addition of 15 to 20 centres in Chennai, Kumaran reckons that the city would reach a saturation point.

How it works

The abacus consists of 13 vertical rods, separated into two sections by a horizontal bar. Each rod contains one bead in the upper section and four beads in the lower section.

When given a sum, the child recites a rhyme corresponding to the kind of calculation involved. This also makes learning fun and easy. Simultaneously, the child moves the required beads up and down. The position of each bead signifies a specific numerical value. At the end of the rhyme, the position of the beads touching the horizontal bar, gives the answer.

As the course advances, the abacus is taken away and the child is encouraged to picture the abacus mentally to come up with the answer. After sufficient training, the child becomes adept at moving the beads mentally and no longer needs to recite the rhyme aloud to arrive at the answer.

Pictures by Bijoy Ghosh

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