University Grants Commission (UGC) expects at least 15,000 African students to benefit from distance learning programmes through the incentives of scholarships, fee exemption and other relaxations on e-Vidya Bharati portal, according to UGC chief M. Jagadesh Kumar.
The tele-education portal e-Vidya Bharati- www.iLearn.gov.in, which gives African students access to more than 500 courses in a variety of subjects like engineering and technology, education, mathematics and sciences, education, humanities and arts, and teacher training, was unveiled by the Ministry of External Affairs.
Background of the project
The e-VBAB network project aims to enable African students to access education in Indian institutions through the comforts of their homes.
The portal, which was formed as a commitment made at the third India-Africa forum summit, was brought out to bring digital innovation in education in Africa.
Institutions participating in the programme
UGC chief Kumar told the Free Press Journal that more than 25 institutions have been offering programmes through this portal. “Till date, 3570 scholarships have been offered through this portal. 25+ partner institutions from across India such as IGNOU (Central University), MG University, Kerala (State University), Aligarh Muslim University (Central University), Andhra University, and Anna University (Private University) have been offering 300+ programmes & courses through the e-Vidya Bharati.”
Massive Online Open Courses under AICTE’s Swayam are also being offered to students including Certificate Course in Artificial Intelligence by IIT Madras, Cultural Studies by Jadavpur University, and Design, Technology, and Innovation by IIT Bombay.
“Through this portal, students belonging to African countries can benefit by registering for short-term certificate courses, and scholarships for UG/PG, and Diploma programmes. Prioritising the preparation and training of students for the 21st century, India has committed 15,000 scholarships to students and professionals in Africa over 5 years by providing opportunities in online education,” added Kumar.
Digital and offline courses have the same validity
On the question of such digital courses having equal validity as offline courses, the UGC Chief states that it will have no difference in terms of weightage. “Students will get their Degree, Diploma, or Certificate after completing their course as prescribed by the Indian university. It is provisioned that learners can visit local learning centres or authorised local examination centres in their respective countries. Due to the pandemic, students can also give examinations using their laptop by downloading a certain software,” added Kumar.
Passport not mandatory, national identity card required
UGC, which recently amended the Open and Distance Learning (ODL) Programmes and Online Programme Guidelines will allow international students to initiate the admission process to Indian universities through the e-Vidya Bharati portal, changes the compulsory identifier ‘Passport’ for international students to ‘any national identity with a photograph’ of the country of residence for the admissions through MEA in UGC recognized/entitled Online Programmes. “Government-issued Proof of identity (National ID/ Voter ID/ Taxation ID/ Birth Certificate/ Other) is required for verification,” said Kumar.
India aims to increase number of foreign students by 2024
In the year 2021, India also saw 23,439 foreign students on student visas taking admissions in the country, a 14% increase from 2020.
During the inaugural ceremony of the International Faculty Development Programme (IFDP) 2022 of Chandigarh University, Dr. Rajkumar Ranjan Singh, Union Minister of State for External Affairs and Education gave an ambitious aim of increasing foreign students in India to 5 lakhs by 2024.
