The Philippines has been cited as one of the top 10 countries in the world in terms of high growth in “e-learning” revenues in the next few years, according to Ambient Insight, a global report by US-based market research firm. The report said that in Asia alone, the market for learning and training programmes supported by electronic technology is expected to reach $11.5 billion by 2016 or more than twice the $5.2 billion in 2011.

The report, titled “The Asia Market for Self-paced e-Learning Products and Services: 2011-2016 Forecast and Analysis,” places the Philippines at seventh. The country joins Azerbaijan, Thailand, Kenya, Slovakia and India with growth rates of between 30 per cent and 35 per cent. The two countries with the highest growth rates in the world are Vietnam and Malaysia, respectively at 44.3 per cent and 39.4 per cent.

The major factors driving growth include the massive content digitisation efforts across the school systems “in every country in the region” and the large-scale deployments of tablets in the academic segments, as well as the explosive growth of online higher education enrolments. Other factors cited are the strong demand for e-learning in the corporate sector in many countries and the strong demand for digital English-language learning products in both the academic and consumer segments across Asia. In the Philippines, e-learning has been gaining ground in the education and agricultural sectors, with a big push from government efforts.