The Digital Over Promise

The Indian Express     3rd September 2020     Save    
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Context: Pandemic induced education crisis paves the way for comprehensive implementation of online/digital education initiatives.

Challenges to the Digital Education: The following constraints hinders the delivery of promises made under the New Education Policy.

  • Low Education Expenditure: The NEP allocates 6% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on education, but is unclear over how and when the goal is expected to be achieved.
    • In 2020-2021, the government spent only 3.2% of GDP on education, down from 4.14% in 2014- 2015.
  • Implementation issues due to COVID: For E.g. The migrant labour crisis was a recent example of our challenges in execution.
    • National Optical Fibre Network is still not completely operational after almost 8 years.
  • Limited accessibility to inline mode of education will adversely impact the marginalised, rural and poor populations.
    • Only about 25% of Indian households have access to internet facility (while rural households stands at 15%).
  • Limited digital infrastructure/resources in terms of appropriate platforms, technology, tools, interactivity, curation, content and a lot more. 
    • Government schools and colleges do not have the resources to provide digital education. 
    • Lack of a proper policy on digital education, infrastructure and multiple languages.
  • Challenges for the parents in terms of fees for data services, uninterrupted broadband connectivity, adequate space and digital discipline.
  • Curation and mentoring challenge for teachers, who are presently trained to teach and not mentor. 
  • No mention of leveraging existing infrastructure:
    • While the National Knowledge Network exist to promote collaboration through digital connectivity, on a few institution take advantage of it due to:
      • Lack of understanding and technical expertise.
      • Lack of local facilities and funding

Government Initiatives for Digital Education 

  • National Knowledge Network (NKN) was established as a high bandwidth, low latency network to connect all knowledge-creating organisations.
    • Encourages collaborative development and building of repository of knowledge in all fields. 
    • Lack of understanding, local facilities, funding and technical expertise limits its usage.
  • National Optical Fibre Network (NOFN- Bharat Network) : as a part of National information Infrastructure (NII). – to address the shortage of quality teachers.
    • Free 100 Mbps to 1Gbps bandwidth was planned at each panchayat under it.
    • Use of Universal Service Obligation (USO) fund: to build NOFN has countered the challenge of lack of private telecom investment due to lack of profitability. 
  • National Knowledge Commission (NKC) has experimented on the use of Information Technology (IT) in panchayat schools to synchronise present teacher-centric education and IT-based teaching.
    • Previous impacts of NKC (2004-2009): Emphasis on Expansion, Excellence and Equity.
      • Over 900 universities including IITs and IIMs were built.
      • Increased funding for education in 11th five-year plan.
      • Passage of Right to Education Bill.

Way Forward: Leveraging the existing architecture -

  • Relook at the NOFN (BBNL) and make it a core component of the Digital India initiative 
    • Leverage NOFN to provide e-services at the bottom of the economic pyramid.
  • Digitally connect all schools and improve the digital education ecosystem using NOFN and NKN.
    • NOFN and NKN was built as an IT-based teaching system to address the shortage of quality teachers and school infrastructure. 

Conclusion: The transition from teacher-class based teaching to digital-education will need multipronged efforts over time.

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Quotes

“Digital India” is not prepared for digital education.
Plan for the worst and hope for the best

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