Q.38) How have digital initiatives in India contributed to the functioning of the education system in the country. Elaborate your answer.(GS-I: INDIAN SOCIETY, UPSC CSE 2020)(Answer in 250 words,15-marks)

Digital platforms are the order of the day. Online education was started in a massive way by IGNOU after a law was passed in 1985 which claimed class at your doorstep or the open class. This has increased with time. The information revolution or the explosion of the IT sector has taken digital education to sections of the society.

1. Digital platform teaching did start with IGNOU at a mass level but some of the initiatives of the private education system provide this at selected levels and they cover it with high fees. In some of the coaching institutes a regular feature has been to operate offline classes and online classes simultaneously. The online programmes have been particularly useful for those who cannot join because of jobs and other engagements.

2. In the time of the unfortunate pandemic of 2019 and 2020 this online portal became more popular. Classes of premier private primary institutions like the Darjeeling and Dehradun schools started online. The govt. institutions realized the gravity of the situation late; then they started the programme.

3. This programme would become more and more popular in course of time. The smart phones and tablets have become very effective. There is a long debate on the merits and demerits of the online classes; the reality is they would become more popular with time.

4. One important problem is the digital divide. The country is continuing with massive baggage of poverty. Mobiles have become very popular but the smart phones have not because of their costs. The digital divide has been covered to some extent by community or school room collective facility only with a separate head phone.

5. Digital platforms have contributed in a massive manner to education. This has a greater reach the IGNOU experiment was a major success after the initial hiccups. They were already successful but after the onset of COVID19 they became more popular and have contributed a lot to the dissemination of knowledge.

The online education or digital education would increase with the spread of technology. There would be more use of digital platforms and the accessibility of smart phones would become popular with more economy models of such phones. There would be some problems still but the government and public institutions would come to the rescue of such problem areas.