UNESCO Recognises Use Of ICT In Indian School Education

The initiative of Education Ministry to use Information and Communication Technology (ICT) under the PM eVIDYA scheme during the COVID-19 pandemic has won UNESCO’s recognition, an official said. The PM eVIDYA has been initiated as part of Atma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan by the Ministry of Education on May 17, 2020, which unifies all efforts related to digital or online or on-air education to enable multi-mode access for imparting education by using technology to minimise learning losses. 

Central Institute of Educational Technology (CIET), a constituent unit of National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) under Department of School Education and Literacy (DOSEL), Ministry of Education (MoE), Government of India has been awarded with the UNESCO’s King Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa Prize for the Use of ICT in Education for the year 2021.

This award recognises innovative approaches in leveraging new technologies to expand educational and lifelong learning opportunities for all, in line with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Established in 2005 with the support of the Kingdom of Bahrain, the Prize rewards individuals and organisations that are implementing outstanding projects and promoting the creative use of technologies to enhance learning, teaching and overall educational performance in the digital age.

An international Jury selects two best projects annually. Each prize winner receives USD 25,000 (around INR 19 lakh), a medal and a diploma during a ceremony at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris which this year will be held on June 24, 2022.

With a mandate to deploy affordable technology to enhance the educational opportunities for all, to augment the quality of education and to bring equity into the educational system in the country and keeping in view the recommendations of NEP-2020, Ministry of Education through CIET, NCERT has been working tirelessly and meticulously in designing, developing and disseminating a large number of eBooks, eContent - audios, videos, interactives, augmented reality contents, Indian Sign Language (ISL) videos, audiobooks, talking books; a variety of eCourses for school and teacher education; organising digital events like online quizzes primarily for students and teachers through leveraging Online and Offline, On-Air technology One Class-One Channel, DIKSHA, ePathshala, NISHTHA and school MOOCs on SWAYAM.

To further the objectives of NEP and Samagra Shiksha  and address the aforementioned pillars, PM eVidya was launched in May 2020.

The CIET was proactive in taking learning to the doorsteps of the children through the extensive, resilient, ethical, and coherent use of 12 PM eVidya DTH TV channels and nearly 397 radio stations, including community radio stations under PM eVidya programme. These efforts were especially helpful in pandemic situations, when schools were closed, in reaching out to students. These efforts helped in arresting the learning hiatus to a large extent.

PM eVidya Yojana In Budget 2022-23

As you all are aware Finance Minister Nirmala Sitaraman has announced the union budget 2022-23 on February 1, 2022. While presenting this budget the minister made announcements regarding the PM eVidya scheme and promoted digital education.

She had said that under this scheme, where only 12 TV channels were operating previously, now around 200 TV channels have been launched. Now those students who do not have access to the internet will be able to take advantage of these TV channels.

In the budget speech, the finance minister had said that this year vocational courses and creative courses will be started in order to boost the skill of students. There will be 750 virtual labs and 75 skill labs in Science and maths. Teachers will be available through digital mode.

Other than that, high-quality education material will be made available to the students in their regional languages through the internet, mobile phones and TVs. The government is also going to set up a Digital University through which students will be able to get an education at their home in all Indian languages and ICT formats.