10-Sep-2018: Signing of Agreement between MEA and TCIL for the e-VBAB Network Project

On 10th September 2018, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and the Telecommunications Consultants India Ltd (TCIL) signed an Agreement for the implementation of e-Vidya Bharati and e-Aarogya Bharati (e-VBAB) Network Project in the presence of Hon’ble Minister of External Affairs and Hon’ble Minister of State (IC) for Communications. The signing ceremony was attended, amongst others, by the African diplomatic corps, senior officials from the Department of Telecommunication and representatives from Indian educational and healthcare institutions.

Speaking on this occasion, External Affairs Minister hailed the project as a digital bridge of knowledge and health between India and Africa. Recalling the ten guiding principles of our engagement with Africa set out by Prime Minister recently, EAM mentioned that government has put Africa at the top of India’s foreign policy priorities. This has been reflected in our enhanced engagement, including the fact that in the last four years, there have been 26 visits to African countries at the level of President, Vice President and Prime Minister in addition to several Ministerial visits. She called on the African partner countries to fully share and contribute to making this Project an even bigger success than its first phase.

E-VBAB Network Project is primarily a technological upgrade and extension of the Pan-African e-Network Project (Phase 1) which was implemented in 48 partner countries across Africa from 2009 till 2017. The Phase 1 of the Project successfully imparted tele-education and tele-medicine by linking educational institutions and hospitals in India with those from the participating African countries.

Over the 5 years project duration, e-VBAB Network Project will provide free tele-education courses in various academic disciplines to 4000 students every year from African countries. The Project will also be utilized for providing free Continuing Medical Education (1000 every year) to African doctors/nurses/para-medical staff. Further, Indian doctors, through this project will provide free medical consultancy to those African doctors who seek such consultancy.

In order to operationalise the e-VBAB Network Project, a Data Centre and Disaster Recovery Centre will be established in India along with Learning Centres in various African countries which decide to be part of the Project. There will be two separate platforms for e-Vidya Bharati (tele-education) and e-Aarogya Bharati (tele-medicine) which will link, through a web-based technology, various educational institutions and hospitals in India and the participating African countries.

The e-VBAB Network Project will be completely funded by the Government of India for its entire duration and will be open for participation to all our partner countries in Africa. The Project will be another important milestone in our development partnership with Africa.

19-Jun-2018: Union HRD Minister dedicates the National Digital Library of India to the Nation

The Union Human Resource Development Minister, Shri Prakash Javadekar launched the new digital initiative of HRD Ministry ‘National Digital Library of India’ on the occasion of National Reading Day in New Delhi. This National Digital Library of India (NDLI) is a project of the Ministry of Human Resource Development under the aegis of National Mission on Education through Information and Communication Technology (NMEICT). The objective of NDL is to make digital educational resources available to all citizens of the country to empower, inspire and encourage learning. National Digital Library of India is developed by IIT Kharagpur.

NDL is the Single Window Platform that collects and collates metadata from premier learning institutions in India and abroad, as well as other relevant sources. It is a digital repository containing textbooks, articles, videos, audio books, lectures, simulations, fiction and all other kinds of learning media.

Speaking on the occasion Minister said that a new era of Digital India has begun as we dedicate this Digital Library to the Nation. He said that the National Digital Library is a 24x7 ubiquitous knowledge resource that is accessible to anyone with internet access and it is built to enable the rise of Digital India. The Minister said that anybody can access the digital library anytime and anywhere absolutely free of cost and will contribute greatly to the Government’s commitment towards “Padhe Bharat Badhe Bharat”.

The Minister explained that NDLI is a digital library that makes quality learning resources available to all learners and  has 1.7 Crore content from more than 160 sources, in over 200 languages, everywhere and 30 lakh users are registered on NDL as on date and our target is to increase the users 10 times in a year. He said that NDLI platform is collaborative in nature and extended his regards to contributing institutions which have made available their digital repositories for integration with NDLI.

Shri Prakash Javadekar added that apart from website, NDL is also available on the Mobile app. NDLI Mobile app is enabling access to rich digital content of libraries across the country and even foreign repositories to users even in the remotest of areas. He further said that the App, which has been downloaded over 6.70 lakh times, is currently available for both iPhone and Android users. Users can search for content using various parameters like subject matter, source, content type and more. Right Now the app is available in three languages – English, Hindi and Bengali.

Speaking at the launch function today, the Minister of State for Culture (I/c) Dr. Mahesh Sharma, narrated the difficulties faced by him as a student in gaining access to books, and fondly thanked the NDL initiative of Human Resource Development Ministry that would help lakhs of students in the country. He added that National Digital Library initiative by MHRD together with National virtual Library of India platform by Ministry of Culture will enable India leave an indelible mark on the World stage. He said Education and Culture are the cornerstones in the concept of India’s ‘Unity in Diversity’ and National Digital Library is a path breaking initiative by MHRD in this direction.

Dr Mahesh Sharma also gave details about the  National virtual Library of India as  a massive online library with resources covering tens and hundreds of fields, ranging from arts, music, dance, culture, theatre, science and technology to education, archaeology, literature, museums, cartography maps, e-papers and manuscripts, among others , in all possible forms collated and made available on a single online platform. This programme is a part of the National Mission on Libraries of the Ministry of Culture.

While addressing the gathering, the  Minister of State for Human Resource Development Shri Satya Pal Singh said that it is a very important day in the history of India as the nation gets its own National Digital Library. The Minister said that in earlier times students had to struggle because of non-availability of books and other study materials, but now this initiative will make the educational resources easily accessible. He further said that NDL aims to make a paradigm shift in education and research in India by enabling every citizen with the knowledge resources they need to empower themselves.

28-Mar-2018: Cabinet approves formulation of a new Integrated Scheme for School Education

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved the proposal of Department of School Education and Literacy to formulate a Integrated Scheme on School Education by subsuming Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA) and Teacher Education (TE) from 1st April, 2018 to 31st March, 2020. An estimated allocation of Rs 75,000 crore over the period has been approved which is a 20% increase over the current allocations.

The scheme comes in the backdrop of PM’s vision of Sabko Shiksha, Achhi Shiksha and aims to support the States in universalizing access to school education from classes pre-nursery to XII across the country.

Main Features of the Scheme: The vision of the Scheme is to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education from nursery to senior secondary stage in accordance with the Sustainable Development Goal for Education. The main emphasis of the Integrated Scheme is on improving quality of school education by focussing on the two T's - Teacher and Technology.

The objectives of the Scheme, across all levels of schooling, are:

      • Provision of quality education and enhancing learning outcomes of students;
      • Bridging Social and Gender Gaps in School Education;
      • Ensuring equity and inclusion at all levels of school education;
      • Ensuring minimum standards in schooling provisions;
      • Promoting vocationalization of education;
      • Support States in implementation of Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009; and
      • Strengthening and up-gradation of State Councils for Educational Research and Training (SCERTs)/State Institutes of Education and District Institutes for Education and Training (DIET) as nodal agencies for teacher training.

Impact: The Scheme gives flexibility to the States and UTs to plan and prioritize their interventions within the scheme norms and the overall resource envelope available to them. It will help improve the transition rates across the various levels of school education and aid in promoting universal access to children to complete school education. The Scheme, by providing quality education, aims to equip the children with varied skills and knowledge essential for their holistic development and prepare them for the world of work or higher education in the future. It would lead to an optimal utilization of budgetary allocations and effective use of human resources and institutional structures created for the erstwhile Schemes.

Benefits:

      1. Holistic approach to education
      2. Inclusion of senior secondary levels and pre-school levels in support for School education for the first time
      3. An integrated administration looking at 'school' as a continuum
      4. Focus on Quality of Education-      Emphasis   on   improvement   of Learning Outcomes
      5. Enhanced Capacity Building of Teachers
      6. Focus on strengthening Teacher Education Institutions like SCERTs and DIETs to improve the quality of teacher training
      7. Enhanced use of digital technology in education through smart classrooms, digital boards and DTK channels
      8. Specific provision for Swachhta activities - support 'Swachh Vidyalaya'
      9. Improve the Quality of Infrastructure in Government Schools
      10. Enhanced Commitment to 'Beti Bachao Beti Padhao'- Upgradation of KGBVs from class VI -VIII to upto class XII
      11. Emphasis on 'Kaushal Vikas' in schools
      12. Support 'Khelo India' - provision for sports and physical equipment
      13. Preference to Educationally Backward Blocks (EBBs), LWEs, Special Focus Districts (SFDs), Border areas and the 115 aspirational districts
  1. Sustainable Action for Transforming Human Capital in Education (SATH-E)
  2. Revitalising Infrastructure and Systems in Education (RISE)
  3. Odisha Higher Education Programme for Excellence and Equity (OHEPEE) Project