Digitized education should be accepted

19/01/2022

The total enrollment ratio of higher education in our country is about 26% and the total enrollment ratio of Punjab is 29.5. At present there are a total of 993 universities and 51649 colleges of higher learning in the country. Although the overall higher education enrollment ratio has improved, there are still challenges due to the large population of the country as globally, the USA higher education enrollment ratio is 88, the UK 69, the German 70 and Canada 69. Higher education systems and institutions will have to look for new skill-filled courses that will enable young people to be directly employed in the market as there will be a great need for new and diverse job seekers in the future. The FICCI-EY report states that the country's total enrollment in higher education will increase to 50 per cent by 2030 with the emergence of a strong education system. It also has to be seen that if India succeeds in achieving the target of 50% GER then about 100 million eligible students will not be able to get a place in any college or university as these institutions will not have the capacity to take more students.
Today is the time for higher education institutions to receive regular support from the Department of Science and Technology under the Ministry of Human Resource Development, AICTE and the University Grants Commission so that they can adapt to the newly designed curriculum and teaching methods.
It is very clear that considering the population of India, India's higher education institutions cannot admit all our students because of the lack of infrastructure as well as educational infrastructure. So the only solution at that time would be to provide education on a virtual platform which is a 'non-contact program'. Students and teachers do not need to be together in the classroom. Yet the whole teaching work can be done. The online communication program is actually an innovative idea of providing skills and education, although it has some limitations. The online course can provide access to thousands of students to advanced training courses offered by top faculty. The lockdown caused by Kovid-19 in the country has forced schools, colleges and universities to close and students to be sent home.
It has also posed many challenges to governments, institutions, teachers and parents around the world. The majority of educational institutions in Punjab and colleges and government schools in other parts of the country are teaching with online classes. Many teachers are conducting online classes and taking exams with students through Facebook Live Streaming, Zoom application, Google Classroom, Moodle Classes and Microsoft teams. Along with the development of ICT education, online video based micro-courses, e-books, simulations, models, graphics, animation, quizzes, games and e-notes are making virtual classroom teaching more accessible, engaging and relevant. According to a recent survey report published in the newspapers, teachers are facing many challenges in online education. This is because of the lack of training that teachers need to provide for online education. However, there is a dearth of internet facilities for rural students in our country but at present it seems that there is no other option than online education.
In these difficult times, teachers and school administrators in almost all countries are being encouraged to continue their interactions with students through virtual live lessons or large open online courses. In the field of higher education, 28 digital initiatives have been taken by the Government of India, out of which 'Swayam' is a program initiated by the Government of India which addresses three key principles of education policy- access to students, equality among students and its quality. Prepared by looking. The effort is aimed at educating students by the best teachers in the country who have so far remained untouched by the digital revolution and have not been able to integrate into the mainstream of knowledge. Similarly Swayam-Prabha is a group of 32 DTH channels which Dedicated to broadcast high quality educational programs using SAT-15 Satellite. New learning and related materials are provided for a minimum of 4 hours each day which is repeated 5 times a day to give the student a convenient time to study. Virtual Labs is a program of the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD), Government of India, led by the National Mission on Education through Information and Communication Technology (NMEICT).
All students and faculty members of science and engineering colleges who do not have access to good lab facilities and/ or equipment can learn experiments online here. Similarly e-PG Pathshala is being run by UGC (MHRD) under NME-ICT through National Mission on Education. It covers approximately 70 postgraduate subjects and offers interactive e-content on high quality, curriculum-based social sciences, natural sciences, arts and all humanities. The main part of it is its e-content and its high quality education. During this period of Kovid-19, students are suddenly forced to learn in a virtual way. It is clear that education is going to be digital in the future. So this is the time when we must move beyond the traditional reach and embrace the technology available to digitize our education facilities.
(Writer is a Retired Principal & Educationist. Views expressed are personal)

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