The Pied Pipers: Meet The Stars Of India's Online Teaching Industry

In India where competitive examinations are a living reality for millions of students, the need for teachers with ground-level connect with students and a practical grasp over the information they are disseminating is immense. And with online or hybrid modes of education becoming a mainstay in India, lakhs of students today prefer online educators to traditional offline classes. Here are some of the most popular faces in the online teaching industry who are loved by teachers across streams,?courses, and disciplines.

Vikas Divyakirti, 48
Founder, Drishti IAS
Qualifications: BA (History), MA (Hindi and Sociology), PhD

Born in Haryana, Vikas Divyakirti is counted among the frontline teachers in the world of social media. His parents were professors of Hindi literature and he was also drawn to Hindi literature. He has a PhD?in Hindi literature. Divyakirti also taught at Delhi University in his early days. But, in the bid to do something different, he appeared in the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) examination in 1996 and got 384th rank. He was offered the post of Assistant Commandant in CISF but he was found to be medically unfit. Later, he got an offer to work in Central Secretariat Service (CSS). He eventually?joined the Department of Official Language in the post of Desk Officer but?resigned after four months. Subsequently, he started teaching and launched Drishti IAS Coaching Institute in 1999. As of now, one crore people are connected to Divyakirti's YouTube channel.

Himanshi Singh, 25 years
Founder, Let's Learn
Qualifications: D Litt, BA (English), MA (English)

At the age of just 25, Himanshi Singh has done what few people are able to do in their entire life. Himanshi runs a YouTube channel to groom aspirants for the preparation of the Central Teacher Eligibility Test?(CTET) exam. It already has about 30 lakh people connected. Through her platform called Let's Learn, she teaches 80,000 people online every day. Himanshi posted the first video on YouTube on October 4, 2016 and did not look back. On YouTube, she prepares students for CTET, Teacher Eligibility Test (TET), Delhi Subordinate Service Selection Board (DSSSB), Kendriya Vidhyala Sangathan?(KVS) exams,?Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti (NVS) tests etc.?

Himanshi studied at Delhi University. After her father's death, she halted her education for a brief spell?and started teaching. She also taught children at Unacademy. She believes that if there is passion to work, one can find their?road to success in life.?

Khan Sir, 30 years
Founder, Khan GS Research Center (Patna)
Qualifications: BSc, MSc

His real name remains a matter of controversy but the eponymous 'Khan Sir'?has 19 million followers on YouTube. At his Patna centre, teachers are called by their surname. He says that boys call him Khan Sir with love. Khan Sir hails from Gorakhpur.?

As a young boy, Khan sir was good at his studies and dreamt of joining?the army. But the financial condition of his family?was not good, so he learned welding work, operated a?JCB, and started giving?home tuitions to make ends meet. Today, his center is popular across the?country. It is claimed that in offline batches, he teaches 4,000 boys at a time, while lakhs of children attend his online classes for 5-6 hours a day. He plans to open a center?in Delhi soon, where he will provide?UPSC preparation classes?in Hindi. Khan Sir has a long history of courting controversies. Earlier this year, he was accused of instigating students against the results of RRB-NTPC (Railway Recruitment Boards Non-Technical Popular Categories Exam) examination. His YouTube channel was banned for a week.

Siddhant Agnihotri, 29 years old
Founder, Study Glows
Qualifications: MA (History), MSc (Geography)

Siddhant Agnihotri belongs to a middle-class family. He did not face any problems in his studies and completed his Intermediate in 2010. Later, he did his B.Sc and started preparing for competitive exams. He also succeeded in state PCS, UPSC, UPPCS, and some other government exams, but left them all to start teaching at Study IQ. While doing his MSc, he started teaching 11th, 12th and B.Sc students. At that time, he was earning Rs 2,000-3,000 per month. After four years of teaching at Study IQ, he felt like starting his own start-up and founded Study Glows. In the beginning, he says, no one knew about Study Glows, but he did not stop teaching. Today, about 14 lakh people are connected to his channel.