Essel Group to invest Rs 350 cr for Zee School venture

Televisionpoint.com Correspondent | Mumbai
Essel Group will invest Rs 350 crore over the next five years to establish 300 schools pan-India through its subsidiary company Zee School.

The aim is to cover about 2.5 lakh students, and Zee School is the group's foray into formal school space through its education vertical Zee Learn. The group also owns pre-school chain KidZee.

Subhash Chandra, chairman, Essel Group, said, "We will be funding the venture through internal accruals and partly debts. The investment is spread over next five years, and we are still working out the modalities of funding."

Sumeet Mehta, CEO, Zee Learn, said, "We have 25 schools that are currently operating under the Zee School brand name. We will be looking at international affiliation besides following the CBSE, ICSE and State Board curriculum."

"Zee School has developed a proprietary education model – Litera Octave, which is at the core of every Zee School. It is a model that Zee Schools have honed over years of research and development. It integrates the various pillars that impact the child during his/her learning and development in school," Mehta said.

Zee Schools started pilots in Bhopal last year. New schools will be set up in Gurgaon, Patna and Mumbai, and will begin operations in the next academic session.