New Delhi: Union HRD Minister Shri Ramesh Pokhriyal “Nishank” interacted with the students across the country through a webinar. During the one hour interaction, the Minister responded to the various concerns and queries of the students relating to school examinations, entrance examinations, Academic Calendar, online education, Fees, Mental health of students, international students, fellowships among others.
Speaking on the occasion the Minister said that the Prime Minister of India Shri Narendra Modi is very concerned about well being and academic activities of the students of the country. In view of this Ministry is taking all measures to quickly and immediately address the concerns of the students. Shri Pokhriyal appreciated the Minister of State for HRD Shri Sanjay Dhotre for his commendable work done to ensure safety and quality education to students.
While interacting with students on the issue of mental health, the ShriRameshPokhriyal said that students must remain calm and focused on their course of studies. Students should develop their timetable of study and take small breaks in between. The Minister said to excel in the entrance examination, it is important to know the syllabus and exam pattern. He appealed students to not be anxious and, eat healthy and stay safe.
ShriPokhriyal asked students preparing for entrance examination to access lectures on Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics and Biology on the official website of the National Testing Agency at the link: https://nta.ac.in/LecturesContent. He added that various platforms of MHRD can be used for preparing for entrance exams. These include Swayamprabha DTH channel, IIT PAL of SWAMPRABHA, DIKSHA, E pathshala, National Digital Library, SWAYAM, e-PG Pathshala, Shodhganga, e-ShodhSindhu, e-Yantra, Spoken Tutorial and Virtual Labs. The Minister was delighted to inform students that the number of hits on key online educational portals in higher education like SWAYAM, SWAYAM Prabha, Virtual Labs, FOSSEE, E Yantra and Spoken Tutorial has gone up to 5 times since lockdown.
In a question relating to students belonging to village area with glitches in networks, the Minister replied that MHRD has tied up with the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting to air SWAYAM PRABHA channels on the DTH platforms of Tata Sky and Airtel DTH operators, DD-DTH, Dish TV and Jio TV App. He said that SWAYAM PRABHA is a group of 32 DTH channels providing high quality educational curriculum based course contents covering diverse disciplines such as arts, science, commerce, performing arts, social sciences and humanities subjects, engineering, technology, law, medicine, agriculture etc to all teachers, students and citizens across the country interested in lifelong learning.The channel number in different DTH service providers are as follows: In Airtel TV: Channel # 437, Channel # 438 & Channel #439, in vmVideocon: Channel # 475, Channel # 476, Channel # 477, in Tata sky: Channel # 756 which pops up window for Swayamprabha DTH channels and in Dish TV: Channel # 946, Channel # 947, Channel #949, Channel # 950. The Minister highlighted that the Ministry is trying to explore the option of All India Radio, Doordarshan and use 2G network to transact the curriculum to students.
Regarding the migration of students of NavodayaVidyalayas to their respective states and home, the Minister informed that the migration process for all schools is being pursued and it has got momentum with a DO letter from MHRD to State Chief Secretaries. He informed that out of 173 Schools, more than 62 schools have initiated the process. All Schools wherein migrated students are there, are being monitored regularly. Students on movement are given sanitizers, masks, small soaps and eatables like snacks made from JNV mess. He added that all JNVs en route to travel are supporting these students with food, stay, snacks and healthcare.
While replying to questions ,ShriPokhriyal informed that MHRD is planning to bridge the academic gap created due to COVID outbreak. MHRD has encouraged students to keep on learning and to aid thelearning through various e-learning resources and digital platforms for both school and higher education. ShriPokhriyal informed students that the Alternative Calendar for the primary, upper primary stage and secondary has also been released. This Calendar provides guidelines to teachers on the use of various technological tools and social media tools available for imparting education in fun-filled, interesting ways, which can be used by learners, parents and teachers even while at home.
ShriPokhriyal highlighted that the government is planning to tackle the academic loss of students during the lockdown period. As a response to COVID-19 lockdown, CBSE will assess the loss of instructional time for proportionate reduction in curriculum load for Board Exams 2021. In accordance, Course Committees of the Board have initiated work on reduced syllabus in various scenarios. The students will be notified on the same soon.
Regarding the examination in Universities, UGC in consultation with MHRD have issued the guidelines. The guidelines can be accessed on UGCs website.
The Minister expressed his happiness to interact with the students. He appealed the students not to panic. He said the Ministry is committed to ensure safety and academic welfare of the students.He also informed that latest information regarding examinations, academic calendar, etc, will be available on the website of the Ministry and its autonomous institutions from time to time.