Govt allows universities to start online courses, but where is the infra?

Issue of quality control in this mode of teaching-learning, faculty development programmes and student placement are key hurdles in the move towars this form of education

The government has announced plans to allow 100 top universities to launch online courses, but there is no clarity on how these universities would roll them out. On the contrary, there are many uncertainties and ambiguities about the proposed online courses, in addition to bigger questions on the readiness of digital infrastructure for both the students as well as the universities.

The fifth tranche of the Rs 20 trillion Covid-19 economic package, part of “Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan" (Self-reliant India campaign) was unveiled by finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on May 17. This included many initiatives directed towards education, under the Pradhan Mantri e-Vidya Programme, which unifies all efforts related to digital, online and on-air education.

Within this initiative the government is expanding e-learning in higher education, by liberalising open, distance, and online education regulatory frameworks. The top 100 universities will be permitted to start online courses by May 30. These universities need not seek any fresh approval from the education regulators to offer such courses.

The online component in conventional universities will also be raised from the present 20 per cent to 40 per cent. At present, the focus of the universities that Business Standard reached out to has been on conducting ongoing online classes, examinations, and fresh admissions. The universities impacted by this particular announcement are awaiting further guidelines from the UGC/MHRD on this.

On whether online classes and degrees are a viable option across the top 100 universities, Rupamanjari Ghosh, Vice-Chancellor, Shiv Nadar University, said, "Offline or conventional face-to-face education will not become obsolete, but it is becoming clear that the hybrid or blended model is here to stay. Online learning offers flexibility, cost savings, standard-quality content, and knowledge management to the students." SNU has been at the forefront of online education and has moved all its courses to online mode since March 16.

Parents orientation of CMS Rajendra Nagar Campus

On some of the challenges, Ghosh says, "The main issue is quality control in this mode of teaching-learning, and universities must set up internal mechanisms. We also need serious faculty development programmes on "How to make Online Teaching Effective", train our faculty and support staff, and create a culture of sharing of best practices. Also, with a slow-down in the economy, placement of graduating students will be tough, except in certain sectors. So relevance and quality of the programmes are going to be the distinguishing features of the 'top' universities students will choose to go to. But will the universities drive the market in their wisdom or will they just respond to the market?"

State of preparedness

A senior faculty at Panjab University, Chandigarh, had this to say on the question of preparedness: “A lot of arrangements are needed. Teachers need training, infrastructure needs to be put in place, and we need guidelines at the administration level, to implement online degrees going forward.”

Over the past few years, the MHRD has initiated several online learning platforms for higher education. These include SWAYAM (Study Webs of Active Learning for Young Aspiring Minds), which is a portal for Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) and which has produced over 2,000 recorded online courses.

On May 21, the Union HRD Minister informed that students enrolled in universities and affiliated colleges may undertake SWAYAM courses and avail credits by completing these courses as per University Grants Commission (UGC)’s present regulations for online learning courses. This is another step by the government in formally recognising online education and considering it for academic evaluation, in the particular discipline.

The UGC has also encouraged faculty to submit their expression of interest for developing non-technology courses for SWAYAM. The UGC shared a list of 82 under-graduate and 42 post-graduate non-engineering MOOCs courses, with university vice chancellors and college principals, which will  be offered in the July 2020 semester.

Devesh Kapur, Director of Asia Programs at John Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, says "Developing a MOOC is very different from developing a normal course. It take a lot of time and introspection. Teaching well online--how to evaluate, to have the students engaged when you cannot see or interact with them, is very different. Also there are questions of capacity that need to be addressed. Are there enough servers, online security, accessibility to technology available to students across the country?"

India has a 31 per cent internet penetration, with 409 million internet users as of 2019. A recent survey report  revealed that out of those who use home broadband, 53.42 per cent faced poor connectivity, 11.47 per cent faced power issues, and 32 per cent faced signal issues. When it came to mobile hotspots, 40.18 per cent faced poor connectivity, and 56.63 per cent faced signal issues.

Which are the universities? what is the the demand from students

There are two rankings that ascertain the "top 100 universities" in India--The National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC), which is an autonomous institution of the UGC, and the National Institute of Ranking Framework (NIRF) conceded by the MHRD. So far the UGC guidelines on this have not been released, specifying which of the two rankings, or the combinations, will be used to define the selected "top 100" institutions.

On May 28, the union HRD Minister interacted with heads of 45,000 higher education institutions on an online webinar. He added that to ensure that online education reaches everyone and is of high quality, NAAC will come up with new evaluation, assessment, and accreditation parameters soon. The guidelines and the official list and parameters from the UGC are awaited. 

According to Madhu Vij of the Faculty of Management Studies, and placement advisor at Delhi University, the current scenario with Covid-19 may find undergraduate students opting for online education. 

“Keeping in view of the uncertainty we are in, if you weigh wasting a year with an online course, it is a way forward. The demand from the students will be there because it gives them the flexibility to learn from where ever they are. But it has to be an add on, and not a replacement.” she says.  

India has 37.4 million students with a Gross Enrolment Ratio of 26.3 per cent. According to a 2019 KPMG report, online higher education in India is still at an early stage of development. However, as compared to graduation and diploma courses, the demand for online higher education is dominated by post-graduation courses such as MBA and MCA.

According to Raka Roy, Professor and Dean of Social Sciences at UC Berkeley University, "Online classes were never really intended to provide an education. They provide an individualised learning experience, which leads to the desired credential. Education is supposed to be about more than a credential. In gaining a credential and not an education one learns perhaps the skills needed for work, but not those required to understand or participate in civic and political life – the skills you need for a modern citizenry," she says.