Educators in Delhi split over Centre’s plans for digital university

Educators and stakeholders from central universities in the Capital had a mixed reaction to the provisions and announcements pertaining to higher education outlined in the Union Budget on Tuesday

Educators and stakeholders from central universities in the Capital had a mixed reaction to the provisions and announcements pertaining to higher education outlined in the Union Budget on Tuesday.

While some welcomed the idea of a digital university, many said the over-reliance on digital mediums for learning was unsustainable. (HT archive)

While some welcomed the idea of a digital university, many said the over-reliance on digital mediums for learning was unsustainable.

Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) vice-chancellor M Jagadesh Kumar welcomed the proposed digital university, noting that the initiative is in line with the vision of providing better access to high-quality higher education in multiple languages to students, espoused in the new education policy (NEP). “Such a digital university will be of particularly great help to students coming from the economically poor, marginalised and rural backgrounds. Since this university will be based on a hub and spoke model, it can develop student-friendly digital platforms and digital content using modern technologies,” said Kumar.

Despite the push for digital education, the total allocation under schemes aligned with the NEP, such as the ‘digital India e-learning programme’, which also includes the PM e-Vidya scheme, was decreased from ₹645.61 crore last year to ₹421.01 crore for 2022-23.

Jamia Millia Islamia V-C Najma Akhtar said that sufficient budget was required for the successful implementation of NEP 2020. “I think the budget allocated for the various plans and programmes envisioned under the NEP should be increased further to provide adequate infrastructure at all levels to get the desired results,’ said Akhtar.

The Budget for Higher Education Financing Agency (HEFA) -- originally intended to leverage funds for infra projects in university, first proposed by late Arun Jaitley in his 2016-17 Budget -- has been virtually shut down with only ₹1 lakh allocated this year. Last year, the agency was allocated ₹1 crore.

Delhi University Teachers’ Association (DUTA) president AK Bhagi said that an end to reliance on loans was a welcome step. “If any kind of a loan to an educational institute is stopped, we welcome the move. We are in favour of grant-in aids for running public-funded institutions,” said Bhagi.

Abha Dev Habib, a teacher at Miranda House and former DU executive council member, said that the government had already put in place a number of interventions in the form of Swayam (an online learning programme) and the national digital library, adding that the digital university will be an addition to an already existing pool of digital resources. “Students already have a lot of information through digital resources. We need to know how the digital university will operate at a time when the government already has set up the Swayam portal and academic bank of credits. The government is trying to modify a regular university into an open university through such interventions. They are pushing digitalisation to cut costs...,” said Habib.

Teachers’ group Academics for Action and Development (AAD) member and former DU executive council member Rajesh Jha said that the excessive push towards digitisation is a matter of concern. “The announcement of the digital university and PM e-vidya scheme will merely give a statistical uplift to gross enrollment ratio without increasing public spending on education. With huge digital divide and resource and gadget-deficient families in India, there is a need for more schools and higher education institutions on the ground than in the cyber space,” said Jha.