Education: An alternate vertical

Kazin Education has signed a contract with ISM EduTech that owns and operates universities specialising in MBBS  programmes in Almaty, Georgia, Dushanbe and Barbados. Rohit Shorey, Founder Director, Kazin Education, says they  will now appoint channel partners in various states of India.

Manas Dwivedi

A new education and travel consultancy firm, Kazin Education has entered the industry with the aim to empower travel agents in the new business vertical, and also promote and enrol students in leading foreign universities and support them in their travel needs. The company has partnered with ISM EduTech that owns and operates four universities, including Kazakh Russian Medical University (KRMU) in Almaty, Kazakhstan; Georgian American University (GAU) in Tbilisi, Georgia; Avicenna Tajik State Medical University (ATSMU) in Dushanbe, Tajikistan; and Bridgetown International University (BIU) in Bridgetown, Barbados. Bollywood celebrity Sonu Sood is the brand ambassador for ISM EduTech.

According to Rohit Shorey, the new venture will soon appoint channel partners in various states of the country. Sharing his vision and plan, he says, “Our motive is to engage our travel trade partners in an alternate field, thus creating a secondary source of income. In fact, I believe that this may well become a primary source of income for our preferred partners, as our pay-outs and incentives to our channel partners will be quite handsome. I believe, never let a crisis go to waste. COVID gave me an opportunity to think about the future of the business of tourism, which led to education. The CIS region is our core area of business, and education in the field of medicine is very popular and economical. I believe that every deserving person has the right to pursue their dreams and our universities allow them exactly that, but at a fraction of the cost of pursuing doctorate as compared to other countries.”

Shorey feels that this new venture is more relevant than ever for the travel trade and the agents, especially keeping in mind the current pandemic when the industry is facing challenges. “Our travel trade partners will be able to synergise their existing knowledge of tourism with education,” he says. All MBBS courses will be in English, with access to Indian faculty.

Sharing targets, he adds, “Our intention is to allow access to affordable but state-of-the-art education to young Indians wishing to pursue a career in medicine, especially from Tier-II and Tier-III cities. Initially, our target audience will be from India; later, we will move to neighbouring countries. We will be providing end-to-end facilitation to students. This will include interviews, admissions, visa facilitation, flights, accommodation, etc. Our local team in each country where our universities are located will overlook day-to-day welfare of our students, while our PSA partner in each state will facilitate post facilitation between students and parents.”

One key PSA will be enlisted for each state. These PSAs will engage channel partners in that state, thus creating a network of opportunity both for Kazin’s partners and students alike. “We have already finalised PSAs in certain states, while for other states we are still on a lookout,” Shorey says.