Union Minister for Human Resource Development Ramesh Pokhriyal has on Tuesday virtually launched India Report on Digital Education 2020 to give a better understanding of the various initiatives taken by the Central and State governments to facilitate remote learning and education for all during the year.
The report, prepared by Digital Education Division of MHRD in collaboration with Education Departments of States and Union Territories, elaborates on the innovative methods adopted by Education Departments of States and UTs for ensuring accessible and inclusive education to children at home and reducing learning gaps.
A statement issued in this regard said: “School education is envisaged as a comprehensive and convergent program committed to universalize digital education across the wide spectrum of schools from pre-nursery to higher secondary classes. The quality of digital education has acquired a new urgency in the present context of globalization.”
Enlisting the various initiatives taken by the HRD Ministry, the statement said, “Ministry of Human Resource Development has initiated many projects to assist teachers, scholars and students in their pursuit of learning like DIKSHA platform, Swayam Prabha TV Channel, Online MOOC courses, On AIR – Shiksha Vani, DAISY by NIOS for differently-abled, e-PathShala, National Repository of Open Educational Resources (NROER) to develop e-content and energized books, telecast through TV channels, e-Learning portals, webinars, chat groups, distribution of books and other digital initiatives along with State/UT governments.”
The report has mention of how state and union governments have managed the critical task of providing digital education at the door step of the students through various tools and channels such as WhatsApp, YouTube, Google Meet, Skype, e-Learning portal, TV, and Radio, etc.
The report also stated some of the major digital initiatives taken by the state governments, which include SMILE (Social Media Interface for Learning Engagement) in Rajasthan, Project Home Classes in Jammu, Padhai Tunhar Duvaar (Education at your doorstep) in Chhattisgarh, Unnayan Initiatives in Bihar through portal and mobile application, Mission Buniyaad in NCT of Delhi, Kerala’s own educational TV channel (Hi-Tech school program), E-scholar portal as well as free online courses for teachers in Meghalaya, and online certificate programs for teachers on ‘Management of mental well-being during COVID’ in Telangana.
The statement further highlighted some innovative apps and portals launched by some of the states as means to facilitate remote learning. They include Top Parent App and KHEL (Knowledge Hub for Electronic Learning) (Madhya Pradesh), Sampark Baithak App (Uttarakhand), Biswa Vidya Assam Mobile Application (Assam), Vidyavahini App, Mera Mobile Mera Vidyalaya and Unnayan Bihar Teacher App (Bihar), Phoenix Mobile application (Chandigarh), Learning Outcomes Smart Q Mobile App (Maharashtra), iScuela Learn Mobile Application (Punjab), Sikkim Edutech App (Sikkim), EmpowerU Shiksha Darpan (Tripura), Top Parent app (Uttar Pradesh) among others.
To ensure inclusive learning in remote areas where internet connectivity and electricity is poor, the statement further said states and union territories have distributed textbooks at children’s doorsteps. Some of the states that have taken this initiative include Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu.
Announcing the launch of the report, HRD minister took to social media and wrote: “Glad to launch India Report on #DigitalEducation, 2020 today. The report elaborates on the innovative methods adopted by Education Departments of States and Union Territories for ensuring accessible and inclusive #education to children at home and reducing learning gaps.”
The minister has urged all to read the report to get a better understanding of the various initiatives taken to facilitate remote learning and education for all across the country.
