Norwegian school chain Dibber to open 20 schools in India by FY24 end

The National Education Policy and National Curriculum Framework have played an instrumental role in influencing Dibber’s decision to enter the Indian market, as per CEO Ritesh Handa (Image Source: Dibber International India)

A Norwegian preschool chain, Dibber International, which entered India in May this year will open 20 schools within the financial year 2023-24, CEO of Dibber Schools India, Ritesh Handa has said.

The school has already launched five centres, including three in Bengaluru and one each in Hyderabad and Pune and plans to open more, Handa said in conversation to Moneycontrol. He added that the school has entered the Indian market with a three-year strategy. It plans to open 100 schools in India over the next three years with an investment of Rs 100 crore.

The India strategy

“For the academic year 2023-2024, the main strategy for growth is to ensure that we have high quality units in metropolitan cities. The target is to have 20 schools this academic year across Bangalore, Pune, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Delhi NCR with 80-100 students at each centre,” Handa said.

In the second year, Dibber will focus on expanding in India's tier 2 cities, and plans to take the franchisee route in the third year. “There won't be a distinction in quality between our schools and a franchise as everything will be managed by us to ensure Dibber’s highest quality standards,” the CEO said.

India currently has the largest population of children under the age of 5 and it has been an important market for Dibber’s growth and expansion plans, as per Handa.

Government initiatives such as the National Education Policy (NEP) and National Curriculum Framework (NCF) for school education have also played an instrumental role in influencing Dibber’s decision to enter the Indian market, he noted.

Land, a challenge

Discussing issues Dibber faced while setting up shop in India, Handa said the biggest problem was finding the right locations. “We wanted locations in the vicinity of tech parks and residential areas for preschool parents as they tend to avoid going beyond a five km radius,” he said.

“Norway has the luxury of space, finding facilities that offered spacious areas to give children clutter free environment and natural open spaces. Here, we had to adapt infrastructures and designs for India,” Handa added.

Other issues that troubled the school chain include different license requirement of varied states.

Growth alignment

Dibber International, which offers early childhood education programs based on Nordic Pedagogy to children aged 6 months to 6 years, at present has 600 schools globally supported by a network of 45,000 teachers, the chain said.

It has presence in 10 countries including South Africa, Poland, Dubai, Germany, Latvia, Finland, Sweden, Hong Kong and India. And also plans to enter Nepal and Bangladesh soon.

Handa notes that India’s Early Childhood Care and Education Centre (ECCE) landscape is perfectly aligned with Dibber’s vision for children. “In Nordic pedagogy, the focus is on the child’s intrinsic value, developing self- efficacy, diversity and mutual respect. Much like the NEP’s recommendation, Nordic pedagogy takes a play based and holistic approach,” he said.

India’s tier-I cities have abundant of new-age parents who are one of the main target audiences of Dibber. “Across our centres we partner with new age, cosmopolitan parents who are cognizant of the need to raise their children as good citizens and need adequate support from their child’s school as well,” Handa adds.