EG classes for IAS

7th April अबकी बार UPSC पार-अखबार सार

Common University Education Test starting from 2022-23 addresses concerns of lakhs of students, know how “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world” – Nelson Mandela Education in India is transforming rapidly. This can be attributed to the initiatives and changes brought by the Government of India, aiming to better and improve education system in the country. Common University Education Test (CUET), Diksha platform, Digital University are some of the several initiatives brought by the Government in this regard. In pursuance of the National Education Policy, 2020, it has been decided to conduct common entrance test for admission in central universities from the academic year 2022-23 to reduce the burden on students, universities and the entire education system. These initiatives are helping students deal with stress, addresses issues of seat limitations, provides with resources and more. Addresses issues related to admission Through the Common University Entrance Test (CUET) for undergraduate programme, students of different boards can be assessed at the same level, giving them equal opportunity. CUET not only addresses the high competition for entry to educational institutions, but also reduces the financial burden. Students may apply to more than one universities as per their choice with one application form thereby reducing financial burden and increasing access. Addresses stress The Ministry of Education’s ‘Manodarpan’, covers a wide range of activities to provide psycho-social support to students, teachers and families for mental health and emotional wellbeing during the COVID outbreak and beyond. A Working Group, having experts from the fields of education, mental health and psycho-social issues as its members monitors and promotes mental health issues and concerns of students to provide support and address the mental health issues through counselling services, online resources and helpline. Similarly, the recently approved CUET will also address stress issues of students. “This will do away with the stress of impossibly high college cut-offs – often as much as 100%,” says UGC Chief M Jagadesh Kumar on the recently approved Common University Entrance Test. Addressing Language barriers The National Education Policy promotes the use of regional languages as a medium of teaching to strengthen the foundations of students. Not only this, CUET also removes language barrier. Students can appear in the test in 13 languages in over hundreds of examination centres for admission. Further, the syllabus for undergraduate level is based on the understanding of subject at class XII level, irrespective of affiliations to any board. Access to Quality Content The Government is also facilitating ways to increase access to quality content for students, at both online and offline platforms. For instance, Diksha, an online platform provides quality e-content for school education in States/UTs and QR coded Energized Textbooks for all grades (one nation, one digital platform). Diksha also complies with World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 level AA. This enables people with visual impairments to access the website using assistive technologies, such as screen readers. Similarly, the recently announced Digital University will also provide students with online resources from across educational institutions. This in addition to digital teacher, will address the issues of quality content and proper guidance. Content for students-with-disability Through platforms like Digitally Accessible Information System (DAISY), special e-content has been developed for students-with-visual and hearing impairment. It is also available in sign language on NIOS website/ YouTube.