Digital university: Some hail ‘futuristic’ move, others say no ‘roadmap’

While the emphasis on digital learning and developing content in regional languages was welcomed, many wondered if the announcement would remain mere lip service, as no “real roadmap” was outlined.

Dr Dishan Kamdar, vice-chancellor of FLAME University, termed the move to establish a digital university as a ‘futuristic decision’ that will benefit a large number of students even from the remotest part of the country by making world-class education accessible. “The plan to increase the ‘One Class One TV Channel’ from 12 to 200 TV channels in all states will enable students to learn through radio and DTH channels, thereby overcoming the problem of internet connectivity,” he said.

https://indianexpress.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=7751244&action=edit&akamai-cache-purge-success=true

Dr Bhushan Patwardhan, national research professor, AYUSH and former vice-chairman of University Grants Commission, said some announcements appeared to have been made ‘off the cuff’ with no clear roadmap on implementation. “The digital university announcement is very popular but its nature is not clear. The problem lies in this – the moment you come up with a new idea or proof of concept, it gets expanded, doesn’t limit it. I am afraid this can open way for shops to come up in the digital space. So far, I haven’t seen any document or discussions around this digital university idea. Also, I believe, nowhere in the world, 100 percent digital universities are successful, some subjects maybe. Education is not just giving information to students but the entire experience, student-teacher personal interactions. I believe if they are using the term university, they will have to specify and decide, how it will operate. Personally, I was hoping for more announcements on the implementation of several provisions in the National Education Policy introduced in 2020, like the idea of academic bank of credit. Had they announced provisions for that, it could have eventually moved towards the digital university idea, which would have been a more careful and inclusive approach,” he said.

Vidya Yeravdekar, pro-chancellor, Symbiosis International (deemed to be) University, too, had her reservations. “The digital university will be built on a networked hub-spoke model, with the hub building cutting edge ICT expertise while the best public universities and institutions in the country will collaborate as a network of hub-spokes. This is a good step forward and much required towards achieving universal personalized learning. However, it will defy the spirit of universal learning if private universities/HEIs are not made part of the hub and spoke  network.”

Wasudeo Gade, vice-president of Vishwakarma University, said that establishing a digital university is a good proposal provided the administrative, academic and examination structure and standards are comparable to general universities. “The quality of content, delivery and evaluation should not be compromised under any circumstances. Research should also be carried out in this university. Also, the budget mentioned the entry of foreign universities. I think our priority should be strengthening our own universities first and then we can think about competition. Provision for e-content development as well as establishing virtual labs for vocational education are good steps. But I would have liked see more emphasis on skilling of students at school and college levels, and also more focus on industry-academia interaction,” he said.