Day: January 11, 2022

What is an Essay?

An essay is generally a short piece of writing outlining the writer’s perspective or story. It is often considered synonymous with a story or a paper or an article. Today the word essay is applied to several kinds of literary compositions in prose. An essay may contain reflections, quotations, or a few pages of concentrated wisdom. It may contain thin or diluted thought, profound or light observations, or even didactic musings or personal gossip. An essay can be as short as 500 words, it can also be 5000 words or more. However, most essays fall somewhere around 1000 to 3000 words; this word range provides the writer enough space to thoroughly develop an argument and work to convince the reader of the author’s perspective regarding a particular issue.

Orgin of The Essay

The word ‘Essay’ means an attempt or assay – an attempt to dwell on some subject or part of a subject. This is an apt name for this writing form because the essay’s ultimate purpose is to attempt to convince the audience of something. Since an essay does not necessarily deal with every aspect of a subject, it is usually short. Thus, the essay may be defined as a ‘composition of moderate length on any particular subject or branch of a subject’. It is limited in range though sometimes elaborate in style. The essay comes in many shapes and sizes; it can focus on a personal experience or a purely academic exploration of a topic. Essays are classified as a subjective writing form because while they include expository elements, they can rely on personal narratives to support the writer’s viewpoint. The essay genre includes a diverse array of academic writings ranging from literary criticism to meditations on the natural world.

History of Essay

Michel de Montaigne first coined the term essayer to describe Plutarch’s Oeuvres Morales, which is now widely considered to be a collection of essays. Under the new term, Montaigne wrote the first official collection of essays, Essais, in 1580. Montaigne’s goal was to pen his ideas in prose. In 1597, a collection of Francis Bacon’s work appeared as the first essay collection written in English. The term essayist was first used by English playwright Ben Jonson in 1609.

Definitions of The Essay

There are several definitions of the essay available. Dr.Johnson defined it as a loose sally of the mind, an irregular, undigested piece, not a regular and orderly composition’. The essay is characterized by comparative brevity and comparative want of exhaustiveness.

According to W.H. Hudson, an essay is essentially personal. It belongs to the literature of self-expression. This is most true of modern essays. In the essays of E.V. Lucas, G.K. Chesterton, A.G. Gardiner, etc. we find the personal elements dominant. We read them not to acquire facts or information but to acquire contact with the personality of the writer. Hugh Walker remarks that no subject may not be dealt with in an essay. The essay is easily distinguished by its manner and style rather than by its matter. The important elements in the essay of Charles Lamb, Hilaire Belloc, or A.G. Gardiner are the style and manner and the theme is secondary.

Sainte beuve, himself a delightful essayist, thought that a good essay should be characterized by conciseness and thoroughness. the essay is brief not because the writer knows little about the subject but because he is a master of the subject that he can present his ideas concisely and adequately. Thus brevity in an essay does not mean superficiality.
considering the various aspects of the essay, it can be defined as a composition of moderate length, usually in prose, which deals in an easy cursory manner with the chosen subject and with the relation of that subject to the writer.

Principles of Essay

One of the elementary principles of essay writing is selections and distribution of emphasis. In spite of its fragmentariness, as an essay should impress as complete within itself. Another trait of the essay is its freedom and informality. The essay provides the freedom of conversation. Bacon called his essays ‘brief notes set down rather significantly than anxiously’. The essay is relatively unmethodical though modern essays have undergone some transformation in this respect.

The essay is subjective and personal. The central fact of the essay is the play of the writer’s mind and character upon the subject matter. In the study of the essay, one has to consider the writer’s personality and standpoint, and outlook on life. we have to follow the evolution of thought, presentation, exposition, and illustration. Finally, we have to assess the value of what he says and the beauty of how he says it.

Five scientific steps to ace your next exam

1. When to Study

Studying time is more efficient if it is spread out over many sessions throughout the semester, with a little extra right before the exam.
Cover each piece of info five times from when you first learned it until your exam. It will enable you to retain the information with minimal effort.

2. What and How to Study

Testing yourself, so you have to retrieve the information from memory, works much better than repeatedly reviewing the information, or creating a concept map (mind map).
After the first time learning the material, spend the subsequent studying to recalling the information, solving a problem or explaining the idea without glancing at the source.

3. What Kinds of Practice to Do

For a particular exam, use the following:

  • Mock tests and exams that are identical in style and form.
  • Redo problems from assignments, textbook questions or quizzes.
  • Generate your questions or writing prompts based on the material.
4. Make Sure You Understand

Passing and failing rest on whether you understood some important ideas.
Your top priority should be to understand the core concepts. Identify the core concepts and make sure you can explain them without looking at the material.

5. Overcome Anxiety

Anxiety makes it difficult to remember things. To help overcome this, make some of your studying sessions like a mock exam, using the same seating posture, materials, and the same time constraints.

referEncE

https://www.scotthyoung.com/blog/2019/03/18/5-strategies-ace-exam/

Study less study smart

  1. Break your study time down into chunks such as 30 minutes and then take a 5-minute break to keep your brain fresh and awake as you are studying.
  2. Teach what you learn to others. This is one of the big values from study groups.
  3. Know the difference between recollection and recognition. Recognition is when you are studying and you turn the page and read something and you think, ‘I know that.’ But what is going on is that you recognize it.
  4. Use specific locations for studying. Have a study chair and a study desk so you know when you are sitting there you need to be studying.
  5. Don’t listen to music when you are studying especially if it has lyrics.
  6. Understand the difference between concepts and facts. The goal of learning is understanding. It is important to learn and remember facts but make your goal of understanding concepts not learning facts.
  7. To remember more of what you learn in class you should take notes. Take enough notes to trigger your brain after class but don’t take so many notes that you can’t focus during class.
  8. Getting enough sleep is key to remembering more of what you study.
  9. Test your memory by writing what you can recall without looking at your notes.
  10. The Survey, Question, read, recite and review method is when you survey or look over what you are going to learn and then develop questions that focus your brain.
  11. Use memory training techniques to study less study smart! When you use memory techniques such as the mind palace or the memory palace you are going to remember more of what you studied.
Reference

https://brainathlete.com/study-less-study-smart-by-marty-lobdell/

Human skills for the future of work

“Becoming is better than being.” – Carol Dweck

Empathy Mindset
  • Listening: Ask questions to understand.
  • Appreciation: Show sincere appreciation and celebration of others’ contributions.
  • Self-Awareness: Part of feeling what others feel is also about understanding your own biases and limiting beliefs.
  • Judgment: When people seek advice or share a problem, they are not looking for your criticism. 
  • Presence: Time is one of our most valuable assets, so be there fully.
Emotional Intelligence

Being aware of how your behaviour affects others is at the heart of emotional intelligence.
This means building self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, and relationship management.

Effective Communication

Consider the following principles:

  • Intention: Know what you want to say and be clear about your objective. 
  • Organization: Take the time to organize your thoughts and straightforwardly deliver them.
  • Framing: “I think, I feel” is much more effective than starting with “you,” which puts people on the defensive.
  • Affirmation:  Asking if the information makes sense may reveal a potential problem. 
Curiosity + Instigation

Curiosity is a natural part of any creative cycle. It paves the way for “possibility thinking,” rather than business as usual. 
Instigation is an invitation to challenge quick fixes, lacklustre solutions and mediocrity. 

Strategic Analysis and Analytical Thinking

Strategic analysis helps to identify complex problems by providing a top-level view into the interconnected web of what can often seem like isolated issues.
Analytical thinking enables people to suspend emotional decision making and instead look logically at evidence-based research and tests.

Complex Problem Solving

To get into problem-solving mode, you need to understand the true problem at hand, identify challenges in the way, resist simple solutions, identify constraints and pathways to feasibility, and, above all, make sure you’re open to experimentation. 

Conflict Resolution

Among the most effective skills to learn to resolve conflict are mastering deep listening, mediation and facilitation. 
Giving people the benefit of the doubt and leading with curiosity are also powerful tools. 

Negotiation and Persuasion

They are not required just for the sales team. You need to be clear about what you want and what you’re willing to let go of to get it.

Leadership

A great leader will understand that it’s not enough to build a culture, it needs to be protected and maintained. 
A great leader also needs to make difficult decisions and hold everyone, including themselves, accountable.

Reference

https://creativecloud.adobe.com/discover/article/ten-human-skills-for-the-future-of-work

Lessons By the Greatest Teacher

How We'll Live With Covid After the Pandemic | Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

We hear or see quotes or statements through social media posts, stories, messages, etc. We find these readings sometimes meaningful or sometimes it is very cliché. However, they do have a lot of importance or have come true in our daily lives even if we do not realize it. Today my topic is going to be something along these lines. Whether we accept it or not one of the greatest teachers in our life is our life itself. Nobody can teach us better than our own experiences in our lives. What we go through as individuals is something that will help us grow, develop, and change for our betterment. Today we are going to discuss the life lessons that we have learned during the pandemic.

Life during the pandemic

Our life during the pandemic has been nothing but a big, dangerous, and very long roller coaster that nobody was ready for in their fast pace life. The pandemic is responsible for the changes that we see in our lives. Nothing is the same anymore. The pandemic has been there for almost two years now and we as human beings are still trying to adapt and get in touch with the new normal. The pandemic is responsible for teaching many new things and even remembering the things that we first made a point to learn and follow and then eventually we human beings forgot about it. The pandemic is one situation that is responsible for reminding us that though we consider ourselves the superior and most powerful creatures, there is nobody that can stand against nature, not even we human beings.

 The pandemic made us realize that we are not something away from nature rather we are a part of nature and mother earth. Pandemic acts as the harsh mirror that we had to face at some point in time. During the pandemic, people have had a large amount of suffering and pain, which has no comparison to anything. We had so many things that made us happy but there were much more things that made us all sad and think about human beings being the smartest animal in the world. It might sound that I am exaggerating but life during the pandemic is very stressful. One of the most important reasons for this is because stressors that have a negative impact on individuals not just were internal but also external that too with a lot of intensity. A person regardless of their class, caste, country, religion has had a really tough and unimaginable amount of things affecting them during the pandemic. The pandemic shows us that the things that we are so selfish, greedy, and proud of will be nothing if human beings cannot look after their nature and mother earth.

The other thing that needs consideration is that this is not the first pandemic that the human population has come across during their existence on this planet. As and when man has attempted to overpower nature and its cycle, we as human beings have seen the consequences. Yet, we still seem to be making the same mistake even after we have had our part of consequences. Yes, the making of the vaccines to these various pandemics is a big milestone in human evolution but what we fail to understand is that most of the pandemics happen because of our actions of messing with nature and mother Earth. A famous saying written by us human beings ourselves is something that has been forgotten and needs to be put out there which is “Prevention is better than cure” I do not have to go on and on about life during the pandemic because each one of us has had a first-hand experience of it. However, what I would like to go about is how important it is for people to realize their mistakes, make changes that will help us connect to nature and our surroundings, etc so that the future generation will at least remember them as history and be more confident and proudly works towards things that help avoid further pandemics.

The pandemic has been a part of all our lives and therefore has been responsible for teaching some lessons that we should make a point to never forget and make a discipline that is a part of our daily lives.

Pin on Personal Development

Life Lessons we learned during the pandemic

  1. Kindness: One of the most important life lessons that we learned again as human beings was about the importance of kindness. Every single individual during their childhood has learned in their textbook that being kind is a part of good manners that we should inculcate with time. However, as we grow up we forget what we learned as kids because as we grow up we learn more complicated things that we need to remember to score well and do well in life. The pandemic taught us how none of the things matter if we are not kind not just to other people but also to ourselves.
  • Generosity: Another important lesson that we learned during the pandemic was generosity. We understood the importance of being generous so that everyone gets basic facilities during tough times. Being generous does not make a person great, it just makes them humane and normal. When a person is generous, there is a sense of happiness that is no comparison with anything else. I think we understood the true meaning of generosity during the pandemic.
  • Compassion: A very important life lesson we learned during this pandemic was compassion. Love and understanding are some of the things that we forgot about in our mechanic lives. We during the pandemic realized the importance of love and understanding that we need to have not just for other people but also more importantly for ourselves. We learned to be compassionate towards animals during these tough times. Street dogs would have had a tough time living during the lockdown if it is not for the compassionate people giving them food and shelter.
  • Trust: Trust is something we had lost tremendously during our life when there was no pandemic. The pandemic made us realize the importance of trusting people. We learned to trust doctors with our lives and the lives of our loved ones. We learned to trust the immense research done by scientists who made the life-changing vaccines. We learned to trust our instincts and ourselves during the pandemic. We as human beings learned to trust the process even though it was difficult, painful, and life-threatening every single day.
  • Importance of Family and Friends: While we all were, confined to the four walls of our house, we understood how easy and granted we had taken the people around us such as our family and friends. We understood the importance of time and how need to take some time off from our busy schedule to spend time with people who mean everything to us and play a role in our personal life. During this pandemic, we have lost a lot of people who we love, value, and respect, therefore; we have to learn to value our time and our people.

I have just mentioned the five most important life lessons that I have seen, learned, and observed during the pandemic. I am sure everybody else has learned much more than this. Yes, the experience we have had is the most terrible one however, we should use this experience of our pandemic to make sure things get better for everybody and life becomes much more peaceful, harmonious, and worth living not just for us human beings but every single living thing on this planet.

To conclude, let us remember the things we learn through life and experience so that, life slowly gets better for us and every single person gets their happiness, fulfillment comes back.

References

  1. Google searches and quotes

January a Great month in the world: 12 January Birthday day of Swami Vivekananda also National Youth Day 

January month is popular across the world for various reasons. January is celebrated across the world as the English New Year. Also all over the Ramakrishna Missions in the world, this day (1 January) is celebrated as Kalpataru Day. In the world, many Orthodox Christians celebrate 7 January as Christmas by following the Julian calendar. When I worked as Associate Professor in Eritrea I had observed they celebrate 7 January as Christmas.
Across India on 14/15 January is celebrated in different names. In Assam, the celebration is known as Magh Bihu; Lohri is celebrated in Delhi/New Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, and Jammu; and Makar Sankranti in other parts of the country. It is pertinent to mention that the celebration is the same only the name of the celebration differs. On 26 January 1950, our constitution came into effect so we became a Republic. Also in this month, two great persons were born in India. They are Swami Vivekananda and Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, Swami Vivekananda and master were born on 12 January 1863. Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose was born on 23 January 1897. Anyway, in history, we have read the contribution in the freedom movement of India to only two families’ names as if only for the two families we have got independence, but my salute to all who contributed to the freedom movement in India.
A few lines about Swami Vivekananda are presented here as his birthday tribute.
As mentioned already, Swami Vivekananda was born on 12 January 1863 in Kolkata then Calcutta. His real name in school/college was Narendranath Dutta and his pet name was “Biley”. By this (“Biley”) name parents used to call him. Although he is considered a key personality in the introduction of Vedanta philosophy and Yoga to Western countries mainly in the USA and Europe, humanity was his only consideration. Swami Vivekananda was intelligent from childhood. He was the only student to have received first division marks in the Presidency College entrance examination. He was a positive and broad-minded person with a feeling for all human beings irrespective of caste, creed, and religion. This paragraph will say many things “All power is within you, you can do anything and everything. Believe in that; do not believe that you are weak. You can do anything and everything, without even the guidance of anyone. Stand up and express the divinity within you. Arise, Awake, and Sleep no more. Within each of you, there is the power to remove all wants and all miseries. Believe in this, and that power will be manifested”.
Love and affection towards others are reflected from his saying, “All expansion is life, and all contraction is death. All love is expansion, all selfishness is contraction. Love is, therefore, the only law of life”. His positive feeling towards different religions is realised by this discourse, “The Christian is not to become a Hindu or a Buddhist, nor a Hindu or a Buddhist to become a Christian. But each must assimilate the spirit of the others and yet preserve his individuality and grow according to his own law of growth”. He further said, “Feel like Christ, you will be a Christ; feel like Buddha and you will be a Buddha. It is the feeling that is life, the strength, the vitality, without which no amount of intellectual activity can reach God.”
His patriotic fervour can be understood through this line, “The soil of India is my highest heaven, the good of India is my good and repeat and pray day and night…….O Thou Mother of Strength, take my weakness, take my unmanliness and make me a man!”
Vivekananda passed away on 4 July 1902 but no Indian can forget him as his thought-provoking lecture in Chicago in 1893 at the Parliament of the World’s Religions conquered the hearts of millions of the people of the World. In 1984 the Government of India declared this day (12 January) as National Youth Day and since 1985 the event has been celebrated in India every year.

Career Guidance for Students

 Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) organizes a two day capacity building programme for the teachers on career guidance of students. The trained teachers take sessions with senior students in their respective schools. The programme focuses on dimensions of career information, strategies and resources used in imparting career information, setting up a career resources room in a school, role of a teacher in imparting career guidance and understanding career development.

In Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan (KVS) services of counselors are engaged on part time contractual basis in all Kendriya Vidyalayas across the country. There is also a provision of inviting experts from different fields to sensitize students about the career options available for them to pursue.

In Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas (JNV) career guidance sessions are conducted regularly by the Counselors, Teachers and Vice Principals. Special sessions are also conducted for students in JNVs by inviting eminent experts of various fields.

National Scholarship Portal (NSP) is one-stop solution through which various services starting from student application, application receipt, processing and disbursal of various scholarships to students are enabled. The main objective of NSP is to ensure timely disbursement of scholarships to students and to provide a common portal for various scholarships schemes of Central and State Governments. National Means-cum-Merit Scholarship Scheme (NMMSS) of D/o SE&L is on-boarded on NSP. The details are available on the NSP Portal. The link is as follows: https://scholarships.gov.in


Steps taken by the government to promote the Languages in Eighth Schedule

 The policy of the Government of India is to promote all Indian Languages.  Central Institute of Indian Languages (CIIL), Mysore works for the promotion of all Indian languages including Scheduled/Non-Scheduledand Classical languages. There are separate organisations for development and promotion of Hindi, Urdu, Sindhi and Sanskrit languages.  Sanskrit Language is promoted through three Central Universities viz, Central Sanskrit University, New Delhi, Shri Lal Bhahdur Shastri National Sanskrit University, New Delhi and National Sanskrit University, Tirupati. Hindi is promoted byKendriya Hindi Sansthan     (KHS) Agra, Central Hindi Directorate (CHD), New Delhi and Commission for Scientific and Technical Terminology (CSTT), New Delhi. 

Sindhi is promoted through National Council for Promotion of Sindhi Language (NCPSL), New Delhi and Urdu is promoted through National Council for Promotion of Urdu Language (NCPUL), New Delhi. In addition to promote all Indian languages, Central Institute of Indian Languages (CIIL), Mysore also works for the promotion of four Classical Languages namely Kannada, Telugu, Malayalam and Odia.  Development and promotion of Classical Tamil is done by Central Institute of Classical Tamil (CICT), Chennai.   CIIL works and collaborates with   various     stakeholders      including    Universities, Institutes, State Governments, etc for development of languages through its various schemes like National Translation Mission, Linguistic Data Consortium of Indian Languages, Bharatavani, etc for development and promotion of languages.

National Webinar on Multidisciplinary and Holistic Education

 As part of the celebration of one year of transformative reforms under National Education Policy, 2020, Government of India is organising a series of theme-based webinars on different aspects of National Education Policy, 2020. Multidisciplinary and Holistic Education being one of the biggest thrust area of NEP, University Grants Commission organised a National Webinar on Multidisciplinary and Holistic Education today. Minister of State for Education Dr. Subhas Sarkar delivered the address. Senior officials from Ministry of Education and University Grants Commission attended the Webinar.

National Webinar on Holistic and Multidisciplinary Education on 02.08.21 from 12:30PM onwards https://t.co/9xsRiYjYmw

— UGC INDIA (@ugc_india) August 2, 2021

Delivering the inaugural address, Minister of State for Education, Dr. Subhas Sarkar emphasised upon the long tradition of holistic and multidisciplinary learning, from the times of Takshashila and Nalanda. The Minister said, in ancient India, attention was given to overall personality development. He stressed upon the need to re-build the model of education where one is empowered in every aspect of life. Further elaborating on the Multidisciplinary Education, the Minister mentioned, now the student will not be limited by the boundaries of science, commerce and humanities. On holistic education, the Minister said 21st century skills like active learning, out of box thinking, critical thinking, effective communication, collaboration, technological skills and life skills must be developed in our learners. Dr. Sarkar also reminded the academia about their responsibility of giving wings to the aspirations of new generation. 

Shri Amit Khare, Secretary, Higher Education in his opening remarks shed light on the formulation and fundamentals of National Education Policy, 2020. Shri Khare focused on the role of NEP, 2020 in realising a self-reliant India and illustrated the role of collaboration among institutions, glue grants and inter section of disciplines in realising multidisciplinary education.

Prof. D.P. Singh, Chairman, UGC welcomed the Minister and other dignitaries. Stressing upon the vision of Swami Vivekanand in envisioning holistic perspective of education and stressed upon value-based education to learners. Prof. Singh during his concluding remarks highlighted different aspects of holistic education and flexibility through multiple entry-exit system.

The Webinar on Multidisciplinary and Holistic Education provided an opportunity to bring members of the committee on draft NEP, educationist, scientists and educational administrators on one platform. The first session of the Webinar was on the theme “Holistic Education” and was addressed by Prof. Rama Shankar Dubey, Vice Chancellor of Central University of Gujarat. Prof. Dubey focused on social and emotional literacy.  He also focused on assessment of student on high order skills, such as analysis, critical thinking and conceptual clarity to ensure better learning outcomes. 

Prof. M.K. Sridhar, Member, Committee for draft NEP and Member, UGC addressed the Webinar on the theme of “Multidisciplinary Education” in the second session. Prof. Sridhar provided an insight into the critical role of multidisciplinarity. He emphasised upon multidisciplinary education not as a replacement of existing disciplinary importance but as a supplement for having boundary crossing competencies along with deep competencies in one discipline among our students.

The thematic discussion moving on to the final session was on ‘Multiple Entry Exit through Academic Bank of Credit’ and featured Prof. V.K. Jain, Vice Chancellor, Tezpur University as the speaker. Prof.  Jain illustrated about qualification levels, credit requirements and other aspects of UGC Regulations on Academic Bank of Credits (ABC) and Guidelines for Multiple Entry-Exit System.

Prof. Nageshwar Rao, Vice Chancellor, IGNOU, Prof. Sunaina Singh, Vice Chancellor, Nalanda University, Prof. Badri Narayan, Director, G.B. Pant Social Science Institute, Prof. Anup Kumar Singh, Director General, Nirma University, Prof. Bhimaraya Metri, Director, IIM, Nagpur and Prof. Avinash Chandra Pandey, Director, IUAC made their remarks in different sessions. 

The Webinar was joined by academia, industry and Higher Education Institutions from across the country. Officers from different Ministry, UGC, AICTE and NCTE were also present in the Webinar.

Dissemination of the takeaways of the Webinar like competencies beyond discipline, innovative intervention of holistic education and features of multiple entry-exit and Academic Bank of Credits among the stakeholders will contribute in the realisation of the goals of NEP, 2020 in delivering holistic and multidisciplinary education and bringing in much needed flexibility into the higher education system.

Samagra Shiksha Scheme for School Education

 The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, has given its approval for continuation of the revised Samagra Shiksha Scheme for a period of five years i.e., from 2021-22 to 2025-26 with a total financial outlay of Rs.2,94,283.04 crore which includes Central share of Rs.1,85,398.32 crore.

Benefits:

The scheme covers 1.16 million schools, over 156 million students and 5.7 million Teachers of Govt. and Aided schools (from pre-primary to senior secondary level).

Details:

The Samagra Shiksha scheme is an integrated scheme for school education covering the entire gamut from pre-school to class XII. The scheme treats school education as a continuum and is in accordance with Sustainable Development Goal for Education (SDG-4). The scheme not only provides support for the implementation of the RTE Act but has also been aligned with the recommendations of NEP 2020 to ensure that all children have access to quality education with an equitable and inclusive classroom environment which should take care of their diverse background, multilingual needs, different academic abilities and make them active participants in the learning process.

The major interventions, across all levels of school education, proposed under the scheme are: (i) Universal Access including Infrastructure Development and Retention; (ii) Foundational Literacy and Numeracy, (iii) Gender and Equity; (iv) Inclusive Education; (v) Quality and Innovation; (vi) Financial support for Teacher Salary; (vii) Digital initiatives; (viii) RTE Entitlements including uniforms, textbooks etc.; (ix) Support for ECCE; (x) Vocational Education; (xi) Sports and Physical Education; (xii) Strengthening of Teacher Education and Training; (xiii) Monitoring; (xiv) Programme Management; and (xv) National Component.

Following new interventions have been incorporated in the revamped Samagra Shiksha based on the recommendations of the National Education Policy 2020:

  • In order to enhance the direct outreach of the scheme, all child centric interventions will be provided directly to the students through DBT mode on an IT based platform over a period of time.
  • The scheme will have an effective convergence architecture with various Ministries/ developmental agencies of the Centre and State Governments. The expansion of vocational education will be done in convergence with the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship and other Ministries providing funding for Skills. The existing infrastructure of schools and ITIs and Polytechnics will be used to ensure optimum utilization of the facilities, not only for school going children but also for out of school children.
  • Provision of training of Master Trainers for training of Anganwadi workers and In-service teacher training for ECCE teachers.
  • Provision of upto Rs 500 per child for Teaching Learning Materials (TLM), indigenous toys and games, play based activities per annum for pre-primary sections in Government Schools.
  • NIPUN Bharat, a National Mission on Foundational Literacy and Numeracy to ensure that every child achieves the desired learning competencies in reading, writing and numeracy at the end of grade III and not later than grade V has been launched under the scheme with provision of TLM upto Rs 500 per child per annum, Rs 150 per teacher for teacher manuals and resources, Rs 10-20 lakh per district for assessment.
  • Specific   training   modules   under   NISHTHA  by NCERT to train Secondary teachers and Primary teachers.
  • Strengthening of infrastructure of schools from pre-primary to senior secondary, earlier pre-primary was excluded.
  • Incinerator and sanitary pad vending machines in all girls’ hostels.
  • Addition of new subjects instead of Stream in existing senior secondary schools.
  • Transport facility has been extended to secondary level @ upto Rs 6000 per annum.
  • For out of school children at 16 to 19 years of age, support will be provided to SC, ST, disabled children, upto Rs 2000 per child per grade to complete their secondary/senior secondary levels through NIOS/SOS.
  • Financial support for State Commission for Protection of Child Rights @ Rs 50 per elementary school in the state, for protection of child rights and safety.
  • Holistic, 360-degree, multi-dimensional report showing progress/ uniqueness of each learner in the cognitive, affective, and psychomotor domains will be introduced in the form of Holistic Progress Card (HPC).
  • Support for activities of PARAKH, a national assessment centre (Performance, Assessments, Review and Analysis of Knowledge for Holistic Development)
  • Additional Sports grant of upto Rs. 25000 to schools in case atleast 2 students of that school win a medal in Khelo India school games at the National level.
  • Provision for Bagless days, school complexes, internships with local artisans, curriculum and pedagogical reforms etc included.
  • A new component Appointment of Language Teacher has been added in the scheme- components of training of teachers and bilingual books and teaching learning material added, besides support for salary of teachers.
  • Provision made for all KGBVs to be upgraded to class XII.
  • Enhanced financial support for existing Stand-alone Girls’ Hostels for classes IX to XII (KGBV Type IV) of uptoRs 40 lakh per annum (earlier Rs 25 lakh per annum).
  • Training for 3 months for inculcating self-defence skills under ‘Rani Laxmibai Atma Raksha Prashikshan’ and amount increased from Rs 3000 to Rs 5000 per month.
  • Separate provision of stipend for CWSN girls @ Rs. 200 per month for 10 months, in addition to student component from pre-primary to senior secondary level.
  • Provision of annual identification camps for CWSN at block level @Rs. 10000 per camp and equipping of Block Resource centres for rehabilitation and special training of CWSN.
  • Provision for Establishment of New SCERT has been included and new DIETs in districts created upto 31st March 2020.
  • Setting up of assessment cell preferably at SCERT to conduct various achievement surveys, develop test materials & item banks, training of various stakeholders & test administration, data collection analysis and report generation, etc.
  • The academic support of BRCs and CRCs has been extended for pre-primary and Secondary level also.
  • Support   under   Vocational   Education   extended   to Government aided schools also in addition to Government Schools and grant/number of job roles/sections linked to enrolment and demand.
  • Provision of Classroom cum workshop for Vocational Education in schools serving as Hub for other schools in the neighbourhood. Provision of transport and assessment cost for schools serving as spokes has been made.
  • Provision of ICT labs, Smart classrooms including support for digital boards, smart classrooms, virtual classrooms and DTH channels have been provided.
  • Child tracking provision included for students of Government and Government aided schools
  • Support for Social Audit covering 20% of schools per year so that all schools are covered in a period of Five years.

 

Implementation Strategy and Targets:

The Scheme is implemented as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme through a single State Implementation Society (SIS) at the State level. At the National level, there is a Governing Council/Body headed by the Minister of Education and a Project Approval Board (PAB) headed by Secretary, Department of School Education and Literacy. The Governing Council/body will be empowered to modify financial and programmatic norms and approve the detailed guidelines for implementation within the overall Framework of the scheme. Such modifications will include innovations and interventions to improve the quality of school education.

In order to enhance the direct outreach of the scheme, all child centric interventions will be provided directly to the students through DBT mode on an IT based platform over a period of time.

The Scheme covers 1.16 million schools, over 156 million students and 5.7 million Teachers of Government and Aided schools (from pre-primary to senior secondary level) by involving all stakeholders of the school ecosystem i.e. Teachers, Teacher Educators, Students, Parents, Community, School Management Committees, SCERTs, DIETs, BITEs, Block Resource Persons, Cluster Resource Persons, Volunteers for providing quality, inclusive and equitable education. Further, the scheme will have an effective convergence architecture with various Ministries/ developmental agencies of the Centre and State Governments. As envisaged in NEP 2020, there will be a greater focus on imparting skills among the students. The expansion of vocational education will be done in convergence with the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship and other Ministries providing funding for Skills. The existing infrastructure of schools and ITIs and Polytechnics will be used to ensure optimum utilization of the facilities, not only for school going children but also for out of school children.

 

Major Impacts:

The Scheme aims to universalize access to school education; to promote equity through the inclusion of disadvantaged groups and weaker sections, and to improve the quality of education across all levels of school education. The major objectives of the Scheme are to Support States and UTs in: 

  1. Implementing the recommendations of the National Education Policy 2020 (NEP 2020); 
  2. Implementation of Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009; 
  3. Early Childhood Care and Education; 
  4. Emphasis on Foundational Literacy and Numeracy; 
  5. Thrust on Holistic, Integrated, Inclusive and activity based Curriculum and Pedagogy to impart 21st century skills to the students; 
  6. Provision of quality education and enhancing learning outcomes of students; 
  7. Bridging Social and Gender Gaps in School Education; 
  8. Ensuring equity and inclusion at all levels of school education; 
  9. Strengthening and up-gradation of State Councils for Educational Research and Training (SCERTs)/State Institutes of Education and District Institutes for Education and Training (DIET) as nodal agency for teacher training; 
  10. Ensuring safe, secure and conducive learning environment and maintenance of standards in schooling provisions and 
  11. Promoting vocational education.

 

AtmaNirbhar Bharat:

Recognizing the crucial role of Foundational skills in the national development, it was announced under the ‘AtmaNirbhar Bharat’ campaign that a National Foundational Literacy and Numeracy Mission will be launched, for ensuring that every child in the country necessarily attains foundational literacy and numeracy in Grade 3 by 2026-27. In this context, “National Initiative for Proficiency in Reading with Understanding and Numeracy (NIPUN Bharat)” has been launched on 5th July 2021 under Samagra Shiksha.

Details and progress of scheme if already running:

The Scheme is being implemented as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme in partnership with State and UT Governments to support  the   States  and  UTs  in  universalizing  access  and improving quality of school education across the country. The achievements of Samagra Shiksha are as follows:

 

•      During 2018-2019 to 2020-2021, 1160 schools have been upgraded at Elementary, Secondary and Higher Secondary level, 54 new residential schools/ hostels have been opened, 41180 schools have been strengthened (including Additional classrooms), 13.51 lakh schools have been provided library facilities, 13.14 lakh schools have been provided sports equipment facility, 12633 schools have been covered under ICT & Digital initiatives, 5579 schools have been covered under vocational education, 783 KGBVs have been upgraded from class VIII to class X, 925 KGBVs have been upgraded from class VIII to class XII and 11562 separate girls toilets have been constructed.

•      In addition, during 2018-2019, 4.78 lakh out of school children have been provided special training at elementary level, 4.24 lakh children have been provided transport and escort facility, 16.76 lakh children have been covered under Section 12(l)(c) of the RTE Act, 6.96 cr children have been provided free uniforms, 8.72 cr children have been provided free textbooks at elementary level, 0.74 cr children have been provided remedial teaching, 14.58 lakh teachers have been trained, 69173 schools provided self defence training to girls, 3.79 lakh CWSN girls have been provided stipend and 23183 special educators have been provided financial assistance.

•      Also, during 2019-2020, 5.07 lakh out of school children have been provided special training at elementary level, 6.78 lakh children have been provided transport and escort facility, 21.58 lakh children have been covered under Section 12(l)(c) of the RTE Act, 6.89 cr children have been provided free uniforms, 8.78 cr children have been provided free textbooks at elementary level, 1.76 cr children have been provided remedial teaching, 28.84 lakh teachers have been trained, 166528 schools provided self defence training to girls, 3.22 lakh CWSN girls have been provided stipend and 24030 special educators have been provided financial assistance.

•      Also, during 2020-2021, 3.23 lakh out of school children have been provided special training at elementary level, 2.41 lakh children have been provided transport and escort facility, 32.67 lakh children have been covered under Section 12(l)(c) of the RTE Act, 6.57 cr children have been provided free uniforms, 8.84 cr children have been provided free textbooks at elementary level, 1.44 cr children have been provided remedial teaching, 14.32 lakh teachers have been trained, 81288 schools provided self defence training to girls, 3.52 lakh CWSN girls have been provided stipend and 22990 special educators have been provided financial assistance.

 

Background:

Union Budget, 2018-19 has announced that school education would be treated holistically and without segmentation from pre-primary to class XII. It is, in this context, that the Department launched the Integrated Scheme for School Education, Samagra Shiksha in 2018 by subsuming the erstwhile Centrally Sponsored Schemes of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA) and Teacher Education (TE). The scheme treats school education as a continuum and is in accordance with Sustainable Development Goal for Education (SDG-4). The scheme not only provides support for the implementation of the RTE Act but has also been aligned with the recommendations of NEP 2020 to ensure that all children have access to quality education with an equitable and inclusive classroom environment which should take care of their diverse background, multilingual needs, different academic abilities and make them active participants in the learning process.

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Steps taken by the government to provide online education to students

 A comprehensive initiative called PM eVIDYAhas been initiatedas part of AtmaNirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan on 17th May, 2020, which unifies all efforts related to digital/online/on-air education to enable multi-mode access to education. The initiative includes: 

  • DIKSHA (one nation, one digital platform)is the nation’s digital infrastructure for providing quality e-content for school education in states/UTs and QR coded Energized Textbooks for all gradesare available on it.
  • One earmarked SwayamPrabha TV channel per class from 1 to 12 (one class, one channel).

 

  • Extensive use of Radio, Community radio and CBSE Podcast- ShikshaVani.
  • Special e-content for visually and hearing impaired developed on Digitally Accessible Information System (DAISY) and in sign language on NIOS website/ YouTube.

All these schemes/programmes are free of cost and available to all the students across the nation.

Also, to reach out to those students who lack access to technology various innovative activities are being done at national, state or district level such as Gali-GaliSim-Sim, Tili-Mili programme, Motor Eskool, Roving Teacher, Project SMILE (Social Media Interface for Learning Engagement), e-Kaksha, formation of Whatsap and other social media groups, Work Book Distribution at home, Teacher calling to maintain connects with students.

School Education is in the Concurrent List of the Constitution and the state governments have been directed to act based on the situation prevailing at every place to meet the demands of all students for providing them with the digital access required for learning digitally. Depending on the states’ requirement the Ministry of Education provides Rs.6.40 Lakh for setting up computer labs and Rs.2.40 Lakh for smart classroom. Also, the approval in 2021-22 for ICT, DIKSHA and Smart classrooms are given below:

  • An amount of Rs. 68685.2 Lakh is approved under Non- recurring head for ICT lab in 10727 schools. 
  • An amount Rs. 94633.20 Lakh is approved for smart classrooms in 42204 schools under the Non- Recurring head.
  •  An amount of Rs.1098.01 Lakh is also recommended under DIKSHA for development of digital contents. 


National webinar on Quality Teacher Education, Accreditation, and Teacher Development

 Ministry of Education, AICTE and National Council for Teacher Education organized a national webinar on “Quality Teacher Education, Accreditation, and Teacher Development.”  Dr. Jitendra Singh, MoS (Independent Charge) for Science and Technology, PMO and DOPT was the chief guest for the webinar.

Addressing the participants, Dr. Jitendra Singh  said that in line with the vision of Prime Minister, the National Education Policy 2020 will help in realising the goal of New India. The Minister stressed that there is a strong need of aligning professional degree and career choices. He also spoke of integrity in the selection process of teachers and incentivizing best students to take up teaching as a profession.

The Minister said that since ancient times, teachers have been at the centre of education and contributing to the country’s progress. High quality teaching will improve educational outcomes and will lead to holistic development of students.

Prof. Narendra Kumar Taneja, VC, CCS University; Prof. C.K. Saluja, Rtd., CIE, Delhi University; Prof. M. Jagadesh Kumar, VC, JNU; Prof. Padma Sarangpani, Tata Institute of Social Sciences; Dr. Maitreyee Dutta (Head), Dept of Computer Science & Engg., NITTTR, Chandigarh; Ma. Ramya Venkataraman, CENTA also participated in the webinar.

The webinar featured two  sessions on (i) Quality Education and Teacher Development (ii) Accreditation. Prof. HCS Rathore, Former VC, South Bihar Central University, and Prof. Mahendra P. Lama, School of International Studies, JNU facilitated the questions/answers/interactions and summarized both the sessions.

The webinar focused on Digital Integration in Quality Education, Impact of Language on Quality Education , Maintaining Quality of Education, Holistic Teacher Development, Teachers of the Future, Teacher’s Role in Developing 21st Century Skills, Quality Technical Education and Accreditation and Teacher Accreditation.

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Introducing Indian Values in School Education

The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has developed the National Curriculum Framework (NCF) 2005, which emphasizes on ethical development, inculcating the values, attitudes and skills required for living in harmony with oneself and with others.  NCERT has developed curriculum, syllabi, textbooks and other curricular materials for elementary and secondary stages, integrating different aspects of value education and at the same time providing adequate space to study the contents of different subjects. NCERT textbooks have integrated concerns related to environment, peace oriented values, gender, SC/ST Minority in all its textual materials and supplementary reading materials.  The module prepared on Pedagogy on Social Sciences at the elementary and secondary stage for NISHTHA Programme also attempts to inculcate Indian values through participatory approaches in the teaching and learning of Social Sciences. 

The National Education Policy (NEP), 2020 provides to include in the curriculum ethical reasoning, traditional Indian values and all basic human and Constitutional values (such as seva, ahimsa, swachchhata, satya, nishkam karma, shanti, sacrifice, tolerance, diversity, pluralism, righteous conduct, gender sensitivity, respect for elders, respect for all people and their inherent capabilities regardless of background, etc. The NEP, 2020 also provides that all curriculum and pedagogy, from the foundational stage onwards, will be redesigned to be strongly rooted in the Indian and local context and ethos in terms of culture, traditions, heritage, customs, language, philosophy, geography, ancient and contemporary knowledge, societal and scientific needs, indigenous and traditional ways of learning etc. – in order to ensure that education is maximally relatable, relevant, interesting, and effective for our students. 

The Ministry of Education through NCERT organizes Kala Utsav every year to promote indigenous arts and culture in education, by nurturing and showcasing the artistic talent of school students in the country. Kala Utsav is a unique celebration of its kind where students get an opportunity to understand, and celebrate cultural diversity at school, district, state and national levels and helps in creating awareness of our regional cultural heritage and its vibrant diversity among different stakeholders of education. Since Kala Utsav involves all schools of States and Union Territories (UTs), it covers Madhya Pradesh also. 

The “Ek Bharat Shrestha Bharat” programme, launched by the Hon’ble Prime Minister on Rashtriya Ekta Diwason 31st October, 2015 to commemorate the birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabbhai Patel, aims to celebrate the Unity in Diversity of our Nation,promote the spirit of national integration through a deep and structured engagement between all Indian States and UTs, and showcase the rich heritage and culture, customs and traditions of either State for enabling people to understand and appreciate the diversity that is India, thus fostering a sense of common identity. The States carry out activities to promote a sustained and structured cultural connect in the areas of language learning, culture, traditions & music, tourism & cuisine, sports and sharing of best practices, etc.The State of Madhya Pradesh is paired with the States of Manipur & Nagaland and students of these States are encouraged to learn about each other’s culture, Arts, etc., through activities in schools in accordance with the guidelines for the programme. 

University Grants Commission organises National Webinar on the 'Use of Technology in Education’

 To mark the completion of one year of transformative reforms under National Education Policy, 2020, Ministry of Education (MoE) is organising a series of theme-based webinars on various aspects of National Education Policy, 2020. Technology driven education being one of the major innovative thrust area of NEP, MoE and University Grants Commission organised a National Webinar on Use of Technology in Education today. Union Minister of Railways, Communication and Electronics & Information Technology Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw addressed dignitaries who joined from various parts of the country. 

In his inaugural address, Union Minister of Railways, Communications and Electronics & Information Technology Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw emphasised upon the need of using technology in education to make it available for all. He stressed upon the adaption of technology for smoothening the process of education. Antyodaya, being one of the major philosophies rooted in Indian culture, he mentioned various initiatives to help reach technology to the last person in the society. While talking about lifelong learning, he emphasized on bringing college campuses at the doorsteps of the learners. He pointed out several measures by the Government taken under the visionary leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi to further enhance the connectivity, high speed internet, and means of communication with the use of advance technology.

Prof. D.P. Singh, Chairman, UGC in his address shed light on the multiple initiatives taken up by UGCto make the courses available on digital platforms. Prof. Singh highlighted SWAYAM, SWAYAM Prabha, NAD and other digital platforms which have brought learners in the mainstream of online education as part of UGC’s initiatives.

Smt. Anita Karwal, Secretary, School Education & Literacy said that the blueprint for national digital architecture for school education through which child can register and get linked to learning process which will be a digital record of his/her certificates, academic tracks.

Smt. Anita Karwal, Secretary, School Education& Literacy said that the blueprint for national digital architecture for school education through which child can register and get linked to learning process which will be a digital record of his/her certificates, academic tracks.

 

Chairing the first technical session on National Education Technology Forum, Shri S.D. Shibulal, Ex CEO & MD, Infosys addressed the participants on bridging the divide between technology and regular education.

Speaker of the session Shri Manoj Ahuja, Chairman, CBSE talked about ways to digitalize education through virtual labs, AR/VR, Gamification. Shri Sanjay Sarma, Professor, MIT, USA put forward the need to inculcate openness to adopt technologies. Prof. Partha Pratim Chakraborty, Deptt. of Computer Science, IIT Kharagpur concluded the session by focusing on creation of AI generated textbooks with the help of National Digital Library, digital twins, robot citizens.

The second session of webinar on the theme “Use of Technology for Operationalization of Academic Bank of Credits” was chairedby Prof. Bhushan Patwardhan, Former Vice Chairman, UGC. He threw light on how the Academic Bank of Credits is a flexible, revolutionary and forward-looking innovation in the National Education Policy, 2020.

Shri Abhishek Singh, CEO, MyGov talked about how Digilocker will facilitate the storage and transfer of Academic Bank of Credits. Prof. R.P. Tiwari, Vice Chancellor of Central University of Punjab emphasised on how the NEP will move from digital divide to digital provide. Prof. Rajnish Jain, Secretary, UGC gave insights on how the universities are spreading awareness among faculties and students about ABC and Multiple Entry & Exit.

The last session on MOOCS/Virtual University was chaired by Prof. Anil Sahasrabudhe, Chairman, AICTE. He spoke on the use of AI for personalized learnings with the help of digital toys especially in the field of school education.

Prof. Saroj Sharma, Chairman, NIOS stated how approx. 1 Crore people from rural areas have benefitted from the digital initiatives by the government. Prof. Andrew Thangaraj, Deptt. of Electrical Engineering, IIT Madras addressed the webinar on developing virtual + physical hybrid model of courses. Prof. P.D. Jose, Deptt. of Strategy Area, IIM Bangalore emphasised on creating world class universities leveraging technology to provide high-quality, cost-effective education to students across the world. Prof. Sreedhar Iyer, IIT Bombay concluded the session by providing insights on learner centric MOOCs.

Several academicians, higher education institutions, students, experts from industry and technical fields from all across the country took part in the webinar. Officers from different Ministries, UGC, AICTE and other premier institutions were also present in the webinar.

The key takeaways of the webinar were that of establishing a hybrid model of education with the blend of virtual and physical education. The National Education Policy, 2020 with use of technology will increase the Gross Enrolment Ratio, decrease the drop-out rate, improve student mobility, equity and quality of education for students as well faculties.

The webinar on the Use of Technology in Education created a space for academia, scholarsand higher education institutions across India to discuss ways about enhancing technological support in the realm of education in India.

 

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University Grants Commission organises National Webinar on the 'Use of Technology in Education’

 To mark the completion of one year of transformative reforms under National Education Policy, 2020, Ministry of Education (MoE) is organising a series of theme-based webinars on various aspects of National Education Policy, 2020. Technology driven education being one of the major innovative thrust area of NEP, MoE and University Grants Commission organised a National Webinar on Use of Technology in Education today. Union Minister of Railways, Communication and Electronics & Information Technology Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw addressed dignitaries who joined from various parts of the country. 

In his inaugural address, Union Minister of Railways, Communications and Electronics & Information Technology Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw emphasised upon the need of using technology in education to make it available for all. He stressed upon the adaption of technology for smoothening the process of education. Antyodaya, being one of the major philosophies rooted in Indian culture, he mentioned various initiatives to help reach technology to the last person in the society. While talking about lifelong learning, he emphasized on bringing college campuses at the doorsteps of the learners. He pointed out several measures by the Government taken under the visionary leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi to further enhance the connectivity, high speed internet, and means of communication with the use of advance technology.

Prof. D.P. Singh, Chairman, UGC in his address shed light on the multiple initiatives taken up by UGCto make the courses available on digital platforms. Prof. Singh highlighted SWAYAM, SWAYAM Prabha, NAD and other digital platforms which have brought learners in the mainstream of online education as part of UGC’s initiatives.

Smt. Anita Karwal, Secretary, School Education & Literacy said that the blueprint for national digital architecture for school education through which child can register and get linked to learning process which will be a digital record of his/her certificates, academic tracks.

Smt. Anita Karwal, Secretary, School Education& Literacy said that the blueprint for national digital architecture for school education through which child can register and get linked to learning process which will be a digital record of his/her certificates, academic tracks.

 

Chairing the first technical session on National Education Technology Forum, Shri S.D. Shibulal, Ex CEO & MD, Infosys addressed the participants on bridging the divide between technology and regular education.

Speaker of the session Shri Manoj Ahuja, Chairman, CBSE talked about ways to digitalize education through virtual labs, AR/VR, Gamification. Shri Sanjay Sarma, Professor, MIT, USA put forward the need to inculcate openness to adopt technologies. Prof. Partha Pratim Chakraborty, Deptt. of Computer Science, IIT Kharagpur concluded the session by focusing on creation of AI generated textbooks with the help of National Digital Library, digital twins, robot citizens.

The second session of webinar on the theme “Use of Technology for Operationalization of Academic Bank of Credits” was chairedby Prof. Bhushan Patwardhan, Former Vice Chairman, UGC. He threw light on how the Academic Bank of Credits is a flexible, revolutionary and forward-looking innovation in the National Education Policy, 2020.

Shri Abhishek Singh, CEO, MyGov talked about how Digilocker will facilitate the storage and transfer of Academic Bank of Credits. Prof. R.P. Tiwari, Vice Chancellor of Central University of Punjab emphasised on how the NEP will move from digital divide to digital provide. Prof. Rajnish Jain, Secretary, UGC gave insights on how the universities are spreading awareness among faculties and students about ABC and Multiple Entry & Exit.

The last session on MOOCS/Virtual University was chaired by Prof. Anil Sahasrabudhe, Chairman, AICTE. He spoke on the use of AI for personalized learnings with the help of digital toys especially in the field of school education.

Prof. Saroj Sharma, Chairman, NIOS stated how approx. 1 Crore people from rural areas have benefitted from the digital initiatives by the government. Prof. Andrew Thangaraj, Deptt. of Electrical Engineering, IIT Madras addressed the webinar on developing virtual + physical hybrid model of courses. Prof. P.D. Jose, Deptt. of Strategy Area, IIM Bangalore emphasised on creating world class universities leveraging technology to provide high-quality, cost-effective education to students across the world. Prof. Sreedhar Iyer, IIT Bombay concluded the session by providing insights on learner centric MOOCs.

Several academicians, higher education institutions, students, experts from industry and technical fields from all across the country took part in the webinar. Officers from different Ministries, UGC, AICTE and other premier institutions were also present in the webinar.

The key takeaways of the webinar were that of establishing a hybrid model of education with the blend of virtual and physical education. The National Education Policy, 2020 with use of technology will increase the Gross Enrolment Ratio, decrease the drop-out rate, improve student mobility, equity and quality of education for students as well faculties.

The webinar on the Use of Technology in Education created a space for academia, scholarsand higher education institutions across India to discuss ways about enhancing technological support in the realm of education in India.

 

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