Why We Built Neevak: The Numbers Behind School Operations in Bengaluru
Before writing a single line of code, we did our homework. Here's what we found about the K-12 school operations landscape in India — and why we believe there's an urgent gap to fill.
Neevak Research
Neevak Technologies Pvt. Ltd.
1. How many CBSE schools are in Bengaluru?
Key finding
Between 570 and 680 CBSE-affiliated schools operate in the Bengaluru metropolitan area, depending on the source and geographic boundary used.
We cross-referenced six independent data sources to triangulate the number of CBSE schools in Bengaluru. The results varied — which itself tells a story about how fragmented even basic education data is in India.
| Source | Count | Scope |
|---|---|---|
| AllSchoolsInIndia.in (CBSE affiliation data, 2024-25) | 570 | Bengaluru Urban + Rural districts |
| BangaloreEducation.com (Jan 2026) | 601 | Bangalore |
| Edustoke (June 2025) | 653 | Bangalore / Bengaluru |
| Ezyschooling (2025-26) | 679 | Bangalore |
The most conservative figure — 570 — comes from AllSchoolsInIndia.in, which cross-references CBSE affiliation numbers and validity dates. This counts 549 schools in Bengaluru Urban and 21 in Bengaluru Rural.
Higher estimates (653 from Edustoke, 679 from Ezyschooling) likely include the broader Bengaluru metropolitan area, recently granted affiliations, and satellite areas that people colloquially call "Bangalore."
For context, Bengaluru has roughly 4,500+ recognised schools across all boards (State, CBSE, ICSE, International), with CBSE being the second-largest board after State. The only truly authoritative source is CBSE's SARAS portal, which requires manual querying and doesn't publish aggregate counts.
Our verdict
Defensible. We use "650+" on our homepage. Third-party directories support 600-680 for the broader Bangalore area. The figure is reasonable and aligns with the mid-range of available data.
2. What percentage of schools use a modern ERP?
Key finding
Across India's 1.47 million schools, ERP penetration is estimated at 2-5%. Even among CBSE schools specifically, fewer than 15% use a comprehensive, integrated school management system.
India has approximately 14.72 lakh (1.47 million) schools as of UDISE+ 2024-25 data, of which over 1 million are government schools and 331,000 are private. Only about 29,000 are CBSE-affiliated.
Known ERP provider customer counts
We aggregated publicly claimed customer numbers from major Indian school ERP providers:
| Provider | Schools claimed |
|---|---|
| LEAD Group | 8,500 - 9,000+ |
| MyClassboard | 3,200+ |
| Entab CampusCare | 2,500+ |
| Vidyalaya | 1,300 - 1,800 |
| SchoolKnot | 750+ |
| Various smaller providers | Several hundred each |
The rough total across all known providers lands at 20,000-30,000 schools — but this includes LEAD Group's 8,500+ schools which use a full-stack "school-in-a-box" model (curriculum + ERP), not standalone school management software.
The infrastructure gap
UDISE+ 2024-25 data paints the infrastructure picture: 64.7% of schools now have computer access (up from 38.5% in 2019-20) and 63.5% have internet connectivity (up from 22.3%). Having a computer and internet is a prerequisite for ERP — but even with that bar, only about 20% of government schools have internet access.
The definition matters
There's a critical distinction between "having some software" (Tally for fees, an attendance app, WhatsApp groups) and "having a proper ERP" (an integrated platform covering admissions, fees, attendance, academics, timetabling, transport, and reporting). Many schools in the first category would not qualify for the second.
Our verdict
Defensible. We use "<10% use a modern school ERP" on our homepage. For all Indian schools, the actual rate is likely 2-5%. For CBSE schools, it's 5-15% depending on how strictly you define "modern ERP." The claim holds, especially with the "modern" qualifier focusing on comprehensive, integrated systems.
3. How much time do schools spend on reconciliation?
Key finding
Education management industry data shows 40% of school administrators spend 7+ hours per week on accounts receivable tasks — roughly 1.5 hours daily, with peaks during fee collection periods.
No authoritative, peer-reviewed study specifically measures how many hours Indian school administrators spend on manual bank and fee reconciliation. However, the circumstantial evidence paints a consistent picture:
- 7+ hours per week on AR tasks (Vanco Payments education management survey) — roughly 1.5 hours daily
- 90 minutes per session for a typical monthly bank reconciliation done manually (Proformative finance community)
- ~1 hour per session for moderate-volume manual bank reconciliation in small businesses (Statement Extract)
- Indian school ERP vendors consistently claim their software reduces manual work by 90%
The Indian school context
Schools collecting fees manually deal with cash collection, receipt printing, cash counting, bank deposit verification, matching payments to student ledgers, and generating daily and monthly reports. During peak fee collection periods (beginning of term, exam fees), the workload can be significantly higher than average. A mid-size school with 500-2,000 students receiving daily cash and online payments would plausibly spend 1-2 hours daily on these tasks.
Our verdict
Plausible. We use "2hrs daily on reconciliation" on our homepage. This sits at the higher end of the credible range for an average day (~1.5 hrs), but is realistic for peak fee collection periods. Industry data supports the ballpark. No single authoritative study exists to cite — this is a common situation in B2B SaaS market sizing.
4. What are actual WhatsApp open rates?
Key finding
The 98% open rate is cited directly by Meta/WhatsApp's official business materials and is the industry-standard benchmark — though actual Business API template message read rates typically range from 58-80%.
The 98% figure appears on WhatsApp's own business blog: "With a 98% open rate (compared to a mere 20% for emails), customers are more likely to see, engage, and click your messages." It's reproduced across dozens of marketing research compilations from AiSensy, Wapikit, Infobip, Gallabox, Sociallyin, and many others.
Where it comes from
The 98% figure appears to originate from personal WhatsApp message behaviour — people open nearly every message from contacts they know. No transparent methodology is published: no sample size, geography, message type, time period, or definition of "open."
WhatsApp doesn't have traditional email-style open tracking (no tracking pixels). The "read" rate is based on blue double-check marks (read receipts), which users can disable.
Personal vs. Business messages
This distinction is important for our context:
- Personal messages: ~98% open rate is highly plausible — people read almost every message from known contacts
- Business API template messages (what Neevak sends): real-world read rates are typically 58-80%, which is still dramatically better than email (~20%) or school app push notifications (~12%)
Even at the lower end of Business API rates, WhatsApp outperforms every other parent communication channel by a wide margin.
Our verdict
Industry standard. We use "~98% WhatsApp open rates" on our homepage. The figure comes from Meta's official materials and is universally cited across the marketing industry. We use the tilde (~) to signal "approximately." The real-world Business API rates (58-80%) still make WhatsApp the best channel for parent communication by far.
Summary
| Stat | What we claim | Assessment |
|---|---|---|
| CBSE schools in Bengaluru | 650+ | Defensible |
| Modern ERP adoption | <10% | Defensible |
| Daily reconciliation time | 2 hrs | Plausible |
| WhatsApp open rates | ~98% | Industry standard |
We're not claiming certainty — we're claiming due diligence. The Indian K-12 education data landscape is fragmented, and no single authoritative source publishes comprehensive numbers on school technology adoption. What the data consistently shows is a massive gap between the number of schools and the number using modern operational tools — and that's the gap we're building Neevak to fill.
Sources & references
All data cited in this article was gathered in February 2026. Links are provided for verification. Sources are grouped by topic.
CBSE schools in Bengaluru
- AllSchoolsInIndia.in — List of CBSE Schools in Bengaluru 2024-25 (reports 570: 549 urban + 21 rural)
- BangaloreEducation.com — CBSE Schools in Bangalore 2026 (reports 601)
- Edustoke — 653 CBSE Schools in Bangalore 2026-2027
- Ezyschooling — Top CBSE Schools in Bangalore 2025-26 (reports 679)
- CBSE SARAS 6.0 — Official Affiliation Portal (authoritative, requires manual query)
ERP adoption & digital infrastructure
- PIB — India's School Education System (UDISE+ 2024-25) (14.72 lakh schools)
- UDISE+ Official Dashboard (64.7% computer access, 63.5% internet connectivity)
- IndiaSpend — Are Indian Schools Ready for the Digital Age?
- EuroSchool — How Many CBSE Schools in India (~28,960 CBSE schools nationally)
- LEAD School — School ERP Software (8,500-9,000+ schools)
- Entab — ERP Software Providers (2,500+ schools)
- Vidyalaya School Software (1,300-1,800 schools)
- Market Research Future — School Management System Market
- Central Square Foundation — BaSE Report 2023
Reconciliation time
- Vanco Payments — Private School Billing Software (40% spend 7+ hrs/week on AR)
- Proformative — Account Reconciliation Tools and Time Requirements
- Statement Extract — Automated Bank Reconciliation Guide
- MasterSoft/IITMS — Fees Management System
WhatsApp open rates
- WhatsApp Business Blog — 98% open rate (official)
- AiSensy — WhatsApp Statistics for Businesses
- Infobip — WhatsApp Statistics
- Bird/MessageBird — WhatsApp Performance Benchmarks (opted-in marketing: ~68% read rate)
- ChatArchitect — WhatsApp Analytics Dashboards (business baseline: 58% open rate)
Interested in what we're building?
Neevak is building school operations software that starts with what every school actually needs — reliable fee management, automated reconciliation, and parent communication that reaches parents.
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