Pranab Mukherjee Launches Digital Initiatives to Support Education in Remote Areas
- Swayam Prabha and Swayam are digital classrooms, contents of which can be accessed either through internet or Direct-to-Home (DTH) service.
- National Academic Depository (NAD), however, will have educational certificates of students in a digital format.
On July 9, 2017, President of India Shri. Pranab Mukherjee inaugurated three digital initiatives in the education sector, i.e., ‘Swayam Prabha’, ‘Swayam’ and 'National Academic Depository' by HRD Ministry. Speaking at the inauguration ceremony, President of India indicated that the telecom penetration, technology and the internet are bridging the gap in the education sector. It is playing a crucial role in maintaining the quality of education. Further, digital technology will help teachers to teach a large number of students at the same time even though they will not be physically present in the class. ICT solutions have been offering an interactive learning experience through which students in rural/ remote parts of the country can get benefit from the lectures by renowned teachers.
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Swayam Prabha and Swayam are digital classrooms, contents of which can be accessed either through internet or Direct-to-Home (DTH) service. National Academic Depository (NAD), however, will have educational certificates of students in a digital format. NAD will ease the process of verifying the documents/ certificates and will regulate forgery.
Various courses will be offered through digital platform Swayam for which the study material will be available online in the form of videos. These courses will be available free of cost. Students who wish to pursue certifications will have to register online. On successful completion of the course, the candidates will be awarded certificates. The fee charged for this process will be nominal and affordable.
Through these digital platforms, the students can also seek answers to the questions they have from the expert lecturers. The doubts/ questions raised by the students will be answered real time. The students will be assessed through proctored examination and the grades secured in the examinations will be transferred to the academic record of students.
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Students can access the services of ‘Swayam Prabha’ through Direct-to-Home (DTH) service after installing a dish antenna for about Rs. 1,500. Through this platform, the students will be able to access 32 digital educational channels run by Ministry of Human Resource and Development.
Swayam Prabha will have new content for at least four hours a day which will be repeated five more times in a day for the convenience of students. The content of the course will cover all the aspects of education. The students of Class 9 onwards can access the services of this platform.