Online education is the way forward for making higher education affordable: Delhi Lieutenant Governor

NEW DELHI: Online and digital education seem to be the way forward in making higher education affordable, cost-effective and inclusive, Delhi Lt Governor Anil Baijal said on Monday.

Attending the 'Governors' Conference on the Role of National Education Policy in Transforming Higher Education', he said in the coming days, e-learning will catalyse enhanced access to higher education for a large number of students, within a short period, without unreasonable strain on the government budget.

"Given the experience of teaching and learning during the ongoing COVID–19 pandemic, online and digital education seem to be the way forward towards making higher education affordable, inclusive and cost-effective." Baijal lauded the National Education Policy (NEP), 2020, as not only being "holistic and futuristic", but also "effective" in addressing the challenges faced by the current higher education system.

"The NEP bestows the long-awaited and rightful status to vocational education by integrating it into mainstream education and forging a partnership with the industry."

Aligning curricula with job roles

He suggested aligning curricula and job roles with the specific requirement of not only India but also those countries that are likely to emerge as global hubs for employment.

"For this, the credit framework and certification in the vocational stream would also need to be accredited by these countries," Baijal said.

In a world fast moving towards increased automation and use of artificial intelligence, some jobs will become redundant, while new jobs with entirely different skill requirements will emerge, the L-G pointed out.

"Therefore, through an inbuilt system of reskilling and re-certification, the vocational stream has to flexibly align itself to the demands of the changing economy," he said. Baijal said government–industry-academia collaboration seems to be the key to quality higher education.

NEP an interface with industry

"In the new education policy, though an interface with industry in various fields, including research and vocational education, is envisioned, similar linkages with the government sector also need to be built in," he emphasised.

This approach was successfully experimented in Delhi Baijal said. In June 2019, the Indraprastha Institute of Information and Technology Delhi (IIIT-D) signed an MoU with Delhi Police to establish a Centre for Technology in Policing to assist it in identifying appropriate technologies for crime investigation, maintenance of law and order, traffic management and intelligence gathering, he said.

The institute has also collaborated with Delhi Development Authority to upgrade their IT systems, and was working with the South Delhi Municipal Corporation to modernise operations of the civic body, the L-G said.

The Indira Gandhi Delhi Technical University for Women has joined hands with Delhi Services Selection Board, in providing technical support in automation of recruitment process, besides sharing of university infrastructure for the conduct of examinations, he added.

Also Read:

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• PM Modi: Should have minimum government ‘interference’ in education

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