While addressing the media on the inaugural event of three digital initiatives of India in the field of education - 'Swayam', 'Swayam Prabha' and National Academic Depository by ministry of human resource development- President Pranab Mukherjee said that the spread of technology and telecom along with the power of the internet has the potential to bridge the gap in education in terms of quality and access.
"Digital technology enables good teachers to directly teach large number of students who are not physically present in classes. ICT solutions offer an interactive learning experience through which students in remote parts of the country can benefit from lectures of the top teachers," he said.
Now children will have the opportunity to access the contents of the digital classrooms such as Swayam and Swayam Prabha either thorough internet or direct-to-home service.
Education certificate of every student will be stored in the National Academic Depository in the digital format which will ease the process of verification and completely nullify the chances of forgery.
Through Swayam, the courses are being offered to the students free of cost but if they want the certificate for the course they can get it for a small registration fee. Students will also have the opportunity to ask the questions in real time which will be answered by the subject experts.
Swayam Prabha will utilize the potential of Direct-to-Home-Service. A person can buy the antenna for Rs 1500 and can access all the 32 educational channels run by the HRD Ministry.
Additional Secretary in UGC Pankaj Mittal said "Everyday, there will be new content for at least four hours which would be repeated five more times in a day, allowing the students to choose the time of their convenience".
"The quality of teaching and learning process is the heart of higher education. We have seen huge difference in the quality of attainment levels in higher education between the urban and rural areas, between the states and between institutions within a state," he said.