HRD Ministry of India Making Efforts to Curb Coronavirus Fear Through Online Learning

The Coronavirus aka ‘COVID-19’ outbreak has shaken the entire world. India, just like all the other countries with coronavirus fear has taken sweeping steps to counter this outbreak and put the safety of the citizens first. The COVID-19 outbreak has put the entire industries and sectors of the global order on a stand-still as the world is bracing itself for a long fight against the invisible enemy. 

The Ministry of Human Resource Development, India was among the first ministries to respond to the news of this outbreak and took many bold steps. All actions were taken with an aim to curb coronavirus panic among the citizens and also ensure that the education sector does not take the heavy fall due to lockdown and other safety measures taken across the country. 

Ramesh Pokhriyal, Minister of Human Resource Development in the early days of the outbreak to spread awareness and safety culture said that, 

‘Dear teachers and parents, as you are aware that the corona virus infection has spread to about 60 countries. There have been some cases in India and all affected people’.

Taking advantage of the huge pool of technology and infrastructure, the HRD Ministry has advised many schools, colleges and universities across the country to turn to online classes as a mode of learning. As part of the ‘Digital India’ motto, digitalisation of the education sector has also been accomplished through a renowned platform called ‘SWAYAM (Study Webs of Active Learning for Young Aspiring Minds)’. It is a portal that fosters self-study through open online courses via tutorials, lectures and discussion forums. 

The HRD Ministry also issued notice of postponing all higher education exams which were scheduled for March until further notice from them. As a forward thinking approach, IIT Kharagpur has prepared a JEE preparation module that students can get for free on the National Digital Library of India platform to study during the Covid-19 lockdown.

‘The solutions have been prepared from the perspective of undergraduate students who have cleared JEE as well as subject matter experts and doctoral students in related areas’ explained Prof. Partha Pratim Das, Joint-Principal Investigator, NDLI. HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal has urged students to use this time amid coronavirus lockdown for exam preparation.

In line with the current situation, the HRD Ministry has announced e-classes on Swayam Prabha DTH channels and said that,

‘Dear Students, to make sure that you stay connected with your studies even when you are away from school, we are soon launching e-classes on SWAYAM Prabha DTH channels, full of school education content aligned with your ongoing syllabus’ Nishank said. 

Some of the other digital platforms to continue your learning in India include (and not limited to the following):

• SWAYAM (Study Webs of Active Learning for Young Aspiring Minds)
• DIKSHA (Digital Infrastructure for Knowledge Sharing)
• E-pathshala
• NROER (National Repository of Open Educational Resources)