Govt framing policy to push online education
Digital
India initiative in mind, the HRD ministry is aiming to give online education a
big push, in an attempt to widen the reach of higher education
New
Delhi: Digital India
initiative in mind, the human resources development ministry is aiming to give
online education a big push, in an attempt to widen the reach of higher education.
Indian
Institutes of Technology (IITs), Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) and
leading universities—both private and public—will come together on 9 July in an
initiative taken by the human resources development ministry to chart an online
education policy for the University Grants Commission (UGC) and deliberate how
best to integrate it with the mainstream.
An
online degree finds no recognition by regulators in India though several
countries including the US have adopted them in a big way in the higher
education space.
“When
the country is adopting digital in most sectors, keeping education away is not
the right approach. Pure online courses—adopted and aided by Indian
institutes—will push quality higher education to the masses,” said a human resource
development ministry official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The
official said the promotion of massive open online courses (MOOCS) was the
first step and it was time to take the initiative forward. In the past
year-and-a- half, the government has asked top Indian institutions to develop
MOOCS on various subjects for supplementary knowledge. These are in the nature
of short-term, subject-specific capsule courses, available online to all.
“The
UGC is already working on a plan and top educational institutions will be in a
better position to tell us about the market demand, the drawbacks if any, and
the way forward,” a second government official, who will be attending the
meeting, said.
The
second official, also on condition of anonymity, said Aadhaar or the unique
identity number will be made part of the online education policy for
authentication of students and linking them to the upcoming national academic
depository. Institutions will be asked to present their innovations and best
practices in the digital education space in sync with the ‘Digital India’ push
of the Union government.
The
new online education rules will enable institutions to offer courses for both
regular students as well as working professionals. While online courses for
regular students will allow the higher education space to grow, and cater to
more students, the offerings for professionals will help re-skill them and be a
good source of revenue for institutions as they can charge market rates.
Indian
has 799 universities, 39,071 colleges and 11,923 stand-alone institutions
catering to around 30 million students. Despite the size of the sector, the
gross enrolment in higher education is just 24%, way below leading economies.
With limited government spending on education, online education could spur the
sector.
The
second government official cited above said that the outcome of the meeting
will aid in formulating online education rules, which may also find a place in
the broader education policy being formulated by the K. Kasturirangan
Committee. “The meeting will familiarize the leaders of higher education with
all digital initiatives of the government and help evolve action plans for
effective adoption and utilization of these digital initiatives in higher educational
institutions,” he said.
Source | Mint | 5 July 2017
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