HRD ministry to launch e-education courses from top institutes like IIT and IIM

NEW DELHI: The ministry of human resource development will roll out a host of digital initiatives including free online courses from top institutions, a national e-library for students and a dedicated portal to help students make informed choices about higher education, HRD minister Smriti Irani said on Thursday.

Central universities, Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) will soon start offering massive open online courses (MOOCs), or courses offered on the internet with unlimited participation, free of cost, Irani said in her first press conference after joining office.

The e-library, which will be launched next year, will allow students to access content from premier educational institutions.

The online portal, ‘Know Your College’, will be a repository of information related to all universities and colleges and will allow students to have their grievances redressed in case they have been misled by an institute or college.

The HRD minister also announced that a national and state-level deliberation on the new education policy will begin in January next year. She did not comment on whether the new policy would incorporate the four-year format for undergraduate courses, but said, "During the national, state and regional level debates we will discuss how the courses should be structured." Irani also said Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s interaction with children on the Teacher’s Day on September 5 was viewed by almost 9.5 crore students across 8.5 lakh schools in the country.

The HRD minister evaded questions on whether a similar exercise be held on the Children’s Day on November 14, the birthday of the country’s first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru. "You will have to wait for it till the time comes," Irani said.