VIRTUAL SCHOOL
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In News
- Recently the Chief Minister of Delhi launched a virtual school, and he also announced that students from across the country will be eligible for admission.
- The Chief Minister highlighted that the Delhi Model Virtual School (DMVS) will be for classes 9-12 and also for students preparing for competitive exams like JEE, NEET and CUET.
- Any child aged between 13 and 18 who has completed class 8 from any recognized school can apply for admission in class 9.
- The school will not charge any fee and there will be an attendance tracking system in-built into the online platform used for classes.
- All classes will be online, the Online classes will be recorded so that students who are unable to attend the live classes can watch them in their free time."
- For the exams, students will be required to physically come to Delhi.
Challenges in Indian Education System
- India has achieved universal enrolment at the elementary level. This is a great achievement, but getting Students to School is only the beginning of human Capital formation.
- Poor quality of facilities, Shortage of qualified faculty.
- Out of date Curriculum, Limited university-industry Partnership.
- Indian-origin Scientists have won the Nobel Prize, but post-independence work done in India has not led to a Science novel. If Indians Studying and working abroad can have a great impact, then obviously the problem has to do with our Systems of education and research.
- Broken Governance System. There are few rewards for being a good teacher and few Punishments for being a Careless one.
- Need more effective and accountable governance Systems.
- The greed of Private Colleges to earn the maximum from every Student puts traumatic Pressure on Students which results in mental breakdown.
- More girls than boys drop out of School. While boys drop out to work, girls usually Stay at home and help with domestic Work. Social Conception of gender roles is an important factor.
- Learning loss due to pandemics and the digital divide.
Steps taken by the Government
- The 86th Constitution Amendment provides the Fundamental right to free and compulsory education under Article 21A includes a Common education System where the “rich and Poor are educated under one roof".
- Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan provides funding to eligible State higher educational institutions.
- Declaration of Educational Institutions as institutions of Eminence, to provide world-class education to Indian Students within the Country.
- Creation of Higher Education Financing Agency, for high-quality infrastructure in Premier educational institutions.
- National Institution Ranking Framework for ranking our higher education institutions.
- GIAN Initiative invites distinguished academicians, entrepreneurs, scientists, and experts from premier institutions across the world to teach in higher educational institutions in India.
- SWAYAM Portal for Online Courses.
- SWAYAM Prabha provides HD educational Channels through DTH on a 24X7 basis.
- Sodhganga to develop a national repository of universities in India, and digital Study material for higher education.
- Samagra Shiksha Scheme to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education at all levels of school education.
Way Forward
- School closures during lockdown had negatively impacted students, family structures, and learning outcomes (in reading, writing, and arithmetic).
- Assessing learning outcomes to understand learning gaps.
- Developing expert-led bridge courses and accelerated learning programmes to address learning gaps.
- Institute personalized remedial classes for students with learning gaps.
- A sustainable model of digital learning needs to create communication channels (mandatory Helpline Centres, WhatsApp groups, etc) to clear doubts.
- Need to Increase investment in electrical (including non-conventional sources), communication (satellite TV and radio), and digital infrastructure to enable access to digital education.
- Distribute subsidized internet connections and content pre-loaded devices to students from backward sections of society.
- Need to develop a long-term strategy to ensure continued access to digital education.
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