Context-Ministry of HRD announces National Educational Alliance for Technology (NEAT) Scheme for better learning outcomes in Higher Education

Objective

• The objective is to use Artificial Intelligence to make learning more personalised and customised as per the requirements of the learner. 

Salient features of the project

• MHRD would act as a facilitator to ensure that the solutions are freely available to a large number of economically backward students.
• MHRD would create and maintain a National NEAT platform that would provide one-stop access to these technological solutions.
• EdTech companies would be responsible for developing solutions and manage registration of learners through the NEAT portal. They would be free to charge fees as per their policy.
• As their contribution towards the National cause, they would have to offer free coupons to the extent of 25% of the total registrations for their solution through NEAT portal.
• MHRD would distribute free coupons for learning to the most socially/economically backward students.
• AICTE would be the implementing agency for NEAT programme.
• The scheme shall be administered under the guidance of an Apex Committee constituted by MHRD.

Oppurtunities and benefits

• It is a scheme for better learning outcomes in higher education.
• This requires development of technologies in Adaptive Learning to address the diversity of learners.
• There are a number of start-up companies developing this and MHRD would like to recognise such efforts and bring them under a common platform so that learners can access it easily.
• Educating the youth is a National effort and MHRD proposes to create a National Alliance with such technology developing EdTech Companies through a PPP model.

History of formal education in india

• The beginning of formal technical education in India can be dated back to the mid-19th century.
• Major policy initiatives in the pre-independence period included the appointment of the Indian Universities Commission in 1902, issue of the Indian Education Policy Resolution in 1904, and the Governor General’s policy statement of 1913 stressing the importance of technical education, the establishment of IISc in Bangalore, Institute for Sugar, Textile & Leather Technology in Kanpur, N.C.E. in Bengal in 1905, and industrial schools in several provinces.

All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE)

It was set up in November 1945 as a national-level apex advisory body  and later on in 1987 given statutory status by an Act of Parliament,to conduct a survey on the facilities available for technical education and to promote development in the country in a coordinated and integrated manner. And to ensure the same, as stipulated in the National Policy of Education (1986), AICTE was vested with:

• Statutory authority for planning, formulation, and maintenance of norms & standards
•  Quality assurance through accreditation
•  Funding in priority areas, monitoring, and evaluation
•  Maintaining parity of certification & awards
•  The management of technical education in the country