Unifying Policies To Rehash School Education

Digitisation is important from school education perspective. Along with it, skilling the youth and training the teachers appropriately are required to refine the school education practices in India, says Anil Swarup, Secretary, Department of School Education and Literacy, Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India, in an interview with Gautam Debroy of Elets News Network (ENN).

- Anil Swarup

The Government of India is emphasising on Digital India, how are you implementing the concept of Digital India in your department?

First of all, we have dispatched all the files and papers in the ministry. Everything has been digitised. So, we don’t have files and papers and every proposal moves on an electronic file. As everything has been digitised, so everything has been electronically handled within the department. Secondly, we are trying to use a lot of technology in the field to see how education can be delivered through it. A number of steps are being taken, an electronic platform is being created to provide teachers’ education. Similarly, NCERT has digitised all its material that is available online for students. For delivering education in schools, initiative is being taken to use tablets, computers and smart screens. These are the ways how we are trying to digitise the school education segment.

Is digitising school education being followed across the country or in a particular State?

It cannot be done in one go in all the schools. There are more than 15 lakh schools in the country, so it can’t be implemented immediately. But selectively, it is being done in a few schools and gradually it will be taken to other schools as well.

With Central Government’s emphasis on bringing rural and urban areas at par, what initiatives have been taken to promote school education, especially in the rural areas?