Online learning in India continues amid Covid-19 lockdown

April 11, 2020

The HRD Ministry has offered a range of online learning options if schools are unable to reopen

Online learning in India continues amid Covid-19 lockdown

Online learning in India: The Ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD) is facing a tough decision on whether to continue with online learning or to re-open schools after the 14th of April.  The Delhi government has already started online learning, though other state governments haven’t decided on what course of action to take.

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 lockdown, the HRD Ministry’s online platform has experienced a five-fold growth in traffic as schools remain closed.  The National Digital Library, a pilot project developed by the HRD Ministry was accessed approximately 1,600,804 times in one day, according to the Times Now Digital publication.

As part of a separate initiative, The HRD Ministry has collaborated with Tata Sky and Airtel (Indian TV networks) to distribute free educational programmes, which it normally broadcasts via its SWAYAM PRABHA network.  It is planning to feature six hours of content per day.

Despite these efforts, several factors may nevertheless limit the success of these online learning initiatives.  For instance, many households lack access to the DD Free Dish required to view TV programmes.  Another issue is inadequate internet speed and unreliable connections in many locations, which is particularly the case in remote areas.

The Ministry also launched a social media campaign titled Bharat Padhe Online, with the aim of collecting ideas from the Indian public on how online learning can be made more successful.

“ Learners can continue their education and learning sitting at home in this difficult situation due to unfortunate outbreak of COVID-19  ” Ramesh Pokhriyal, Minister, HRD India

Other examples of the resources available on the HRD Ministry website include:

UG/PG MOOCs

A massive open online course (MOOC) offering a huge variety of courses.

More info here: http://ugcmoocs.inflibnet.ac.in/ugcmoocs/moocs_courses.php

e-PG Pathshala

A portal containing a vast quantity of e-Learning materials.

More info here: http://epgp.inflibnet.ac.in/

e-Content courseware in UG subjects

87 courses with learning material is accessible via this portal.

More info here: http://cec.nic.in/cec/