New Education Policy 2020: Push For Wider Reach Of Online Education; How It Seeks To Bridge Digital Divide

The New Education Policy (NEP) which was approved by the government on Monday aims to bridge the digital divide in the country and ensure a wider reach of online education.

Representative Image- PTI

New Education Policy 2020: The Centre on Monday approved the Draft National Education Policy (DNEP) which is set to change the face of the education system in India. Among many changes, the new policy is looking at bigger push to digital education. During the pandemic, the sudden nationwide lockdown made educational institutes opt for online education to continue with classes and ensure that there is no break in students learning. But the shift also highlighted the digital divide in the country as many students were unable to attend the classes due to lack of facilities such as laptops and Internet service. In some cases, it led to tragic incidents such as in June, a student from class 9 in Kerala committed suicide after she was unable to attend online classes due to a lack of a smartphone or laptop. Several states came up with initiatives to help students attend online classes such as Kerala which opened Neighbourhood Study Centres that was equipped with a television to help students who have no access to digital tools to attend classes. Digital infrastructure Now, these issues have been covered in the new policy as it lays special emphasis on digital infrastructure to bridge this divide.  A new autonomous body—National Educational Technology Forum (NETF) will be set up which will oversee the capacity building and also develop digital content such as e-courses. It will also provide academic institutes and other stakeholders knowledge on the latest technology and help ins sharing best practices. There are plans to also develop more virtual labs to help in digital education. At present, over 100 Virtual Labs have been set up by MHRD which have approximately 700+ web-enabled experiments designed for remote-operation and viewing. Besides this, there will be a separate unit in the government to overlook e-education in both schools and colleges. The government is also planning to increase use of technology in reaching disadvantaged groups by increasing access, set up virtual labs and make e-content in regional languages with "Divyang friendly education software". Emphasis will also be given on new technologies  such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, block chains, smartboards to improve student learning. Also Watch: