E-learning – Propelling the Knowledge Economy of Independent India

August 15 – a day that will be etched forever in the annals of India’s history. On this day, 70 years ago, the South Asian country broke the yoke of colonialism and achieved independence. It is the day when an ancient civilization was transformed into a modern nation.

Over the last seven decades, India achieved considerable progress in various economic sectors such as agriculture, heavy industry, electric power, telecommunications, and so on. The last decade of the 20^th century heralded the liberalization of the country’s economy and its rise as a key player in the global IT industry. The nation has now become one of the largest knowledge economies of the world.

A key factor contributing to India’s emergence as a leader in the information age is its large pool of talented, highly-qualified workforce. Over the last few years, several revolutionary developments have taken place in the education sphere of our country, empowering the youth of the country with the knowledge and skills needed to succeed in the new millennium. One of these groundbreaking developments is the fast-growing adoption of e-learning. On the occasion of the nation’s Independence Day, let us examine the role of technology-enabled training in equipping the country’s education system to meet the needs of the new age economy.

How e-learning is helping India’s education sector shape the nation’s economy

Improving the knowledge and skills of millions of rural Indians

It is well-said that India lives in its villages. Many leading figures of the country’s independence movement believed that equipping the rural masses of the nation with proper education will go a long way in propelling the country’s economy and improving their living standards. Since 1947, a number of initiatives have been launched to enhance the quality of education imparted to people in India’s villages.

The advent of the mobile age has added new tempo to the efforts to provide good education to the country’s rural populace. The widespread use of smartphones in India’s villages has opened new vistas to the delivery of knowledge and skills. Various states in the country are harnessing the power of mobile learning (m-learning) to train rural youth. For instance, the state of Andhra Pradesh has launched a massive m-learning program to impart the skills needed by rural and agro-based industries. The state is making the best use of video-based modules to train learners on the state-of-art technologies used in dairy processing and poultry farming.

Overcoming the dearth of skilled instructors

Many educational institutes in the country are using pre-recorded lectures, delivered by experts, to overcome the shortage of qualified teaching staff. For instance, a number of engineering colleges are using the services offered by the National Programme on Technology Enhanced Learning (NPTEL) to train their students. The program allows students to access video and web-based lectures delivered by the faculty members of prestigious institutions such as the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) on a wide variety of topics from VLSI design to biochemistry and abstract algebra to Indian philosophy. NPTEL provides learners the freedom of place and time to acquire knowledge and skills and become job-ready.

Helping overcome the problems associated with “out-dated” content 

It is an unfortunate fact that the syllabus of most programs offered by institutes of higher learning in India cannot be used to meet the needs of the industry. Many higher educational institutions in the country have outdated curriculums, this is having a serious impact on the employability of graduates, as they lack the knowledge and skills needed by companies.

You can use online learning modules to resolve this problem. For instance, you can impart programming skills to information technology graduates in an affordable way using the web-based learning format. In fact, an engineering college encourages its students to acquire certifications offered by the C++ Institute, Oracle University, and Microsoft, which are valued highly by the corporate world.

Proper education plays a key role in achieving success in today’s knowledge economy, and the online learning format is empowering India to surge ahead in the digital age.

Wish you a very happy Independence Day!