Opinion: Designing Digital varsity
Offering courses in coordination with regional universities will help overcome the issues faced by SWAYAM portal, including reach among rural students
By Dr Kandagatla Sravan Kumar
The Central government and the University Grants Commission (UGC) are planning to launch a National Digital University (NDU), the first of its kind at the national level, from the academic year 2023-24 to provide “world-class quality education” and promote online learning in various Indian languages. With this, students will be able to choose and complete their desired courses online.
Students will also have the option of attending online classes without physically attending an educational institution, with pre-recorded lessons on video and access to study material online. This digital university aims to promote online learning and make education more accessible to the youth. It could enable a large number of students to enrol in higher education, thus creating a strong workforce with well-educated and skilled youth.
Centralised System
According to the new National Education Policy, the UGC is starting this university under the directives of the Ministry of Education, intending to make world-class higher education accessible to all. The digital university will offer various certificate, diploma and postgraduate diploma courses of a student’s choice at their home, based on their individual interests and career choices. The Department of Higher Education, the All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE), public and private universities and other higher education institutions of the country are participating in designing the courses. It will be a centralised system for providing online education, conducting examinations and awarding certificates.
However, it will be different from the current practices being implemented by various educational institutions. For instance, at the national level, some universities with NAAC ‘A’ plus in different States offer various courses online, but with the digital university, a centralised system will be available at the national level and various courses will be available to students and candidates of all categories free of cost or for a nominal fee, irrespective of university affiliation. This will be a great opportunity for students, especially from weaker sections who cannot afford the exorbitant fee of online courses offered by many universities.
The IITs, NITs, IIITs, central universities, and all the other educational institutions, with the financial support of the government, will make their courses available to students under this initiative. IIT Madras, IIT Delhi, and Banaras Hindu University have already prepared the ground to offer courses through the digital university. The world’s largest open university, IGNOU, is also ready to offer many courses.
Enrollments
Students can avail credits through these institutions. They can get certificates, diplomas, and degrees based on these credits. In this system, only 50 per cent of the credits are considered for eligibility, and students are eligible for degrees if they achieve 50 per cent credits in any course. These credits are awarded either at the same time or at a time of their choice. They also have the option to transfer their credits through the Academic Bank of Credits (ABC). Currently, only theory courses are to be offered by the digital university which are not related to labs or practical work.
Lack of seats will not be a problem in the digital university — it will provide flexibility to students to pursue the course of their interest irrespective of the non-availability of seats or their not qualifying for the entrance test. The UGC is making preparations to offer PG courses and doctorates in the future through the digital varsity. Through this university, it is expected that the existing universities will reduce the burden of setting up additional seats, appointing appropriate staff and creating infrastructure.
The National Digital University will contribute to the growth of the gross enrollment ratio (GER) and the availability of skilled resources for employment opportunities in the future. It will open doors for students from remote villages as they will be able to enrol in various courses.
The Roadblocks
Lack of motivation among students, infrastructural issues, digital literacy, technology issues, lack of personal interaction, course structure, and course quality are factors affecting student enrollment. So, if the services of the National Digital University are to be fully utilised, providing internet access to students in rural areas is a must. The government should provide internet services and infrastructure like computers and ICT tools.
At present, students in rural areas are less aware of the online courses offered by the SWAYAM portal run by the Ministry of Education, so the online courses offered by the National Digital University need to be in coordination with regional universities.
Besides, due to the effect of the courses available through the National Digital University, there is a risk of reducing the enrollment of students in the distance education centres of various State-level universities, which are regional. But if only a few selected courses are introduced and courses with specialisations are offered, there will be no problem with registration for admissions to the distance education centres of other State or central universities.
The government also needs to take appropriate measures to provide employment and job opportunities in various government and private institutions to those who have completed courses successfully from the National Digital University. Only then the online education system will produce results on a par with the traditional learning system and the National Digital University will be a success.
