Shri Kapil Sibal chairs first meeting of Apex Committee of National Mission of Education through ICT
The first meeting of the National Apex Committee of the National Mission on Education through Information & Communication Technology [NMEICT] was held under the Chairmanship of Shri Kapil Sibal, Union Minister of Human Resource Development here today. Ms D. Purandeswari, Minister of State, Ministry of Human Resource Development was also present. Secretary, Department of Higher Education and Secretaries of various Departments, Directors of IITs, Directors of IIMs, Vice-Chancellors of Central Universities are on the National Apex Committee.
The main objective of the Mission is to use Information & Communication Technology [ICT] for providing access and quality higher education to student communities all over India. Under this Mission, 419 Universities, over 20000 Colleges including 2000 Polytechnics will be provided VPN broadband connectivity. The Mission would also provide high quality e-content, free of cost to all the learners in the country.
The twin objectives of high quality and inclusivity of users (teachers) and learners is sought to be achieved in the projects under this Mission by ensuring that the content and technology development takes place by the peer community of experts in the field from all over the country. An expert from lesser known Colleges / Institutions would also be invited to contribute his / her knowledge in the content generation activities through the Wiki. They would also get recognition and reward for their contribution when the content so developed passes through the needle's eye on quality and pedagogy parameters on its evaluation by highly renowned group of experts.
The connectivity structure in the NMEICT is complementary and supplementary to National Knowledge Network and is a model of synergy between the two networks.
Secretary [HE] briefed the gathering about achievements so far under the Mission. He mentioned that in 9 Project Approval Board (PAB) meetings, more than 40 Pilot projects costing nearly Rs. 450 crore have already been sanctioned to achieve the Mission Objectives. The demos displayed today are the outcomes of the sanctioned projects. Based on the rigorous evaluation of quality and other success parameters of these Pilot projects, main projects would be considered for sanctioning.
Nearly 15 live demonstrations were given illustrating virtual labs, virtual classrooms, vocational training through haptic device, education resources planning and learning management tools, National Project on Technology Enhanced Learning [NPTEL], low cost access device and hard ware and software tools to facilitate learners to explore educational options.
• Virtual Laboratories will facilitate lab experiments for colleges where expensive equipment cannot be bought. They would also remove the handicap of distance learning system where practicals used to be a casualty.
• Low cost access devices are being developed so that everybody could access the Internet and therefore, the content created under this Mission would be accessible to all.
• Haptic devices could be used for imparting skill building of learners by creating content for enhancement of vocational skills.
The Mission deliverables would act as an effort multiplier for enhancing access, equity and excellence in the higher education system and would strengthen both the On Demand Learning (ODL) and conventional methods of learning. They would help achieve the heightened levels of Gross Enrollment Ratio (GER) in Higher Education.
Projects envisaged will provide e-content in the field of science, social sciences, engineering and languages. It needs wide participation of experts to make contribution so as to achieve the objectives of the Mission. Sakshat website – www.sakshat.ac.in gives all the details and projects can be uploaded on the website for consideration by the experts. Video recordings of the live demonstrations would also be made available on Sakshat web portal shortly and that would give a glimpse of progress made so far and the direction of progress for achieving the Mission objectives.
The Ministry of Human Resource Development has invited all intellectuals to join this movement so that the country can realize the goal of having highly qualified and employable human resources and be a net contributor to the world of knowledge.
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