Govt to top institutes: offer open source courses, e-learning modules

The human resource development (HRD) ministry has asked top higher educational institutions, including the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), to create e-learning modules for their own use and open source courses to help the larger education ecosystem.

The ministry has asked them to adopt credit transfer to bring cohesion among institutions, and make online and offline education seamless, as the world battles the covid-19 pandemic.

The ministry has also advised these institutes to make further preparations to tackle covid-19 and said at least two central universities, the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) and the Banaras Hindu University (BHU), are establishing two quarantine facilities in case the local administration needs them.

Authorities in the HRD ministry have asked the institutions, during internal review meetings, to ensure that the maximum number of students are covered through online courses. The institutes have been asked to place the courses on the government’s online platform Swayam and work on a credit transfer mechanism.

This will enable students to pursue a course online, and upon successful completion, it will be counted as part of their formal coursework by their institutions.

Several top institutions, including IITs and some Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs), as well as central universities, such as Delhi University and Jamia Millia Islamia, have started adopting the suggested model.

“The education calendar has got disrupted… As the central education ministry we are asking institutions to gear up for the challenge. We had a review meeting that was also attended by all the IITs directors and we believe education delivery will improve via technology adoption,” said a HRD ministry official who did not want to be named.

Jamia authorities said they are working along the suggested lines. “The university will organize a seven-session JMI-Online Faculty Development programme for the benefit of all faculty members of the university. It will evolve and facilitate alternative ways of engaging with students through online teaching-learning process,” the university said in an email.