National Education Technology Forum won't be govt-run: Chairman Anil Sahasrabudhe

Mumbai: Still in its nascent stages, the National Education Technology Forum (NETF) is not to be developed as a complete government-run initiative, said National Board of Accreditation (NBA) Chairman Dr. Anil Sahasrabudhe, who is also steering the NETF project.

Sahasrabudhe explained his vision of NETF as an ‘open source platform’ where any and all creators can upload resources subject to certain regulations. “NETF won’t be government ‘edutech’ but a liberal free platform for all creators to share their technology. The government won’t create these on its own," he said.

With regulators in place, the NETF courses are to be both, open and commercial. "The platform plans on utilising technology to enable the teaching of subjects such as science, history, and philosophy via cartoons and comics. There will be a committee in place that will evaluate all outside creations that come our way.

Some will be selected and some would be turned down. Those applicants that have been turned down will also be provided with feedback so they can apply again," he added.

This NETF committee is to rate all the courses. This collection of tech-enabled courses is to be shared with all states.

The NETF was launched alongside the National Education Policy 2020 as an autonomous body to exchange ideas on the use of technology in education in aspects such as learning, assessment, planning, administration, and so on for both, Schools and Higher Education.

All Indian states have been encouraged to partake in this central initiative, at the same time the NETF courses will not be mandated in any of them.

“National Education Technology Forum will bring the learnings of high-tech labs to all students living in rural and remote areas. These courses can also be made available in regional languages and students will also save money that they might have to spend on food and accommodation while moving to new cities. In Mumbai, IIT Bombay and VJTI have already contributed to swayam courses. It is like getting admission to IIT courses without JEE,” said Dr. Sahasrabudhe.