Digital University: Making World-Class Higher Education Accessible to all

Digital University: Making World-Class Higher Education Accessible to all

Last Updated Mar - 17 - 2022, 12:53 AM | Source : | Visitors : 19

The Education budget for 2022 noted that India would establish a digital university to provide students with a world-class education that meets ISTE standards. The Digital university would connect the local and national, reach out to the most secluded locations in the country, and boost internet connectivity in rural areas. After the Budget, the education ministry conducted the webinar 'Digital University: Making World-Class Higher Education Accessible for All' as part of 'Achieving Atmanirbharta through the Amrit Mantra of Digital Education and Dynamic Skilling'.
The webinar was mainly for engaging with stakeholders on executing Budget 2022 in the education sector. Prof. Anil Sahasrabudhe, AICTE Chairman, moderated the webinar and panellists Dr Swati Piramal, Vice Chairperson, Piramal Group, Prof. V Kamakoti, Director, IIT Madras, and Prof. M Jagadeesh Kumar, Chairman, UGC, participated as panellists. 
The panellists highlighted the demand for a multilingual, unrestricted learning management system, making engaging, immersive learning experiences, connecting students to build strong learning communities and synchronized, experiential education by integrating online education with the traditional in-class model. 
The digital University Model:
The vision of Digital University is to improve access to quality higher education programmes via the creative use of ICT means and platforms.
Digital University is suggested in a hub and spoke model. Digital University is designed to be the central hub and many top higher education institutions as its spokes within and beyond the country.
Digital University will be presenting programmes at degree, diploma, and certificate tiers either under its umbrella or in partnership with the Universities.
The digital university ecosystem will have three fundamental components: a technology platform provider or a software provider, digital content creators, and higher education institutions (HEIs), with Digital University at the core of the ecosystem. The University Grants Commission (UGC) states there won't be any limitation on the number of seats, and anyone who has passed class 12 can enrol in these programs. It is a measure signified to extend the opportunities and help increase India's degree enrolment figures to 50% in the following decade. 
BharatNet Project to improve connectivity: 
Simply put, the BharatNet project aims to bring internet connectivity to more than 2.5 lakh gram panchayats across India. The Bharat Broadband Network Ltd (BBNL), a government's particular purpose vehicle, is implementing this program. It will facilitate access at the primary level of village administration to digitally-enabled services like telemedicine, Digital education, e-health, and e-entertainment, etc.".
BharatNet is expected to cover 6 lakh villages in India and provide essential broadband services to rural India. The digital architecture will enable learning for different segments of the society for college and certificate level learning. BharatNet will provide a dynamic hub, and with active collaboration with the AICTE and State Governments, we can maximize the onboarding of millions of students to Digital University.
Colleges affiliating with digital universities.
In this digital University program, colleges can get affiliated to a digital university, significantly decreasing the access barriers. Getting a local access point that can bring people together can become an exciting thing in the digital university model.
Likewise, colleges can get affiliated with the digital university, accept learners to the regional program, and provide regional support to regional students.
University-edtech collaborations
Prof. M. Jagadeesh Kumar, Chairman, UGC, enunciated that the administration is developing regulations that will enable students and regional institutions to work with ed-tech companies to allow learners in remote areas to become exceptional pupils and contribute to the country's financial development.
In terms of educational technology, there is an enormous talent within India, both in ed-tech and start-up companies. With the new regulatory reforms, universities will collaborate with ed-tech companies and utilize their cloud platforms and technological facilities in terms of animation, visual effects, gaming, and comics to create high-quality digital content and enable these students to become outstanding learners.
The goal is to double India's Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER)
One of the essential goals mentioned in the education budget is to increase the country's GER by two-fold. A digital university combined with high-speed internet connectivity to rural areas can help achieve that goal. 
The government plans to build a digital infrastructure that would increase the Gross Enrolment Rate from 27% to 50%, recommended by the NEP, which will lead to 10 million more students getting into the Higher Education System. The GER of tribal students needs to increase, along with the country's women population. With all these initiatives and possibilities, Digital University might be one of the best things for India under the Digital India initiatives. 
Reducing Dropout Rates:
A digital university that delivers access to all could prevent girl children from dropping out of the school system.
Online education across the globe witnessed a significant spike due to Covid norms, but the solution must be unique for our country. Numerous girl children dropped out of school even though they had access to digital education. Apart from children's education, digital universities are essential in healthcare to train workers, adult education, and upskilling in changing management and involving people on the ground.
Rural areas for reskilling are to be prioritized and promoted where needed most.

The Education Budget 2022 is in line with the recommendations of NEP 2020. The Budget increased the concept of digitization of education through digital university, regional e-content delivery and development of the E-Vidya Program. It laid evident foundations for an employment-centric education ecosystem through an API-based digital skilling platform (DESH) for skilling, upskilling and reskilling the youth to make them career-ready. The Budget features on education leave a remarkable space to explore synergies and public-private alliances to accelerate learning outcomes, make education accessible, and bring cutting-edge technologies in the ecosystem.
 

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