Edtech major Byju's plans to spend about $200 million over the next 12-18 months to ramp up its offline tuition centres, as it seeks to serve students in grades 4 to 10. Byju’s forayed into the offline space following the acquisition of tutorial chain Aakash Education Services for an estimated cash-and-stock deal worth $950 million last year.

The Bengaluru-headquartered company has already opened 80 offline centres in 23 cities and plans to expand to 500 centres in 200 cities this year.

As per media reports, these centres will be equipped with high-quality online learning materials, analytics-led assessment, and will combine the presence of physical teachers to improve learning outcomes. Each centre is expected to have an average of 30-40 teachers, whom Byju's will hire and train. Also, students will get tablets for online assessments and courses at the centres.

Byju's, which was recently valued at $21 billion, plans to hire between 3,000 and 4,000 new teachers for its tuition centres this year. It is also aiming for a student base of over one million for its offline-led learning play over the next 24 months.

While these centres will primarily focus on mathematics and science education, they will also provide students with holistic development opportunities such as counselling and Olympiads.

According to the company, the courses that Byju's will offer at its tuition centre will cost between Rs 3,000 and Rs 3,500 per month.