NCERT goes Digital with e-Classes and e-Books

The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has decided to go digital to fulfill dream of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's dream of Digital India.

NCERT was formed in 1961 to assist and advise the central and state governments on academic matters related to school education.

NCERT primarily focuses on implementation of national curriculum framework, universalisation of elementary education, vocational education, education of groups with special needs, early childhood education, evaluation and examination to reform IT eucation, competitive value education, education of girl child, production of teaching-learning experience, improvement in teacher education and, improvement of thought of student.

E-books and e-classes:

The Ministry of Human Resource Development has a proposal to impart education through e-Classes and e-books for the college students. About 93,000 e-Books for the college students are already available under National Mission on Education through Information and Communication Technology (NMEICT) Programme.

However, education through e-Classes under a programme called Study Webs of Active Learning for Young Aspiring Minds (SWAYAM) is likely to begin around August, 2016 and it shall make available 'On Line Courses' called 'MOOCs' for students from class 9 to 12, Under Graduate and Post Graduate classes in all the disciplines.

Under the "Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in Schools", component of the centrally sponsored scheme Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA), ICT enabled teaching and learning is supported in Government and Government aided Secondary and Higher Secondary schools.

E-Pathshala:

Keeping pace with the Digital India initiative, a web-site called "e-Pathshala", has been developed by NCERT to disseminate all the NCERT textbooks, audio, video, images, interactive objects etc.

The digital contents including e-books from Class I-XII are available on e-Pathshala, National Repository of Open Educational Resources (NROER) and NCERT websites. The digital contents are available in English, Hindi, Urdu and Sanskrit.

The stakeholders (students, teachers, educators and parents) can search, access, download and read and use these e-contents through multiple technology platforms i.e. mobile phones, and tablets and on web through laptops and desktops.