Exposing Rural Youth to The Elements of Digital Era

“India has one of the youngest populations compared to other countries. It also has a rapidly changing socio-economic scenario which means career opportunities for these young people will keep changing.

A much-needed response to this rapidly changing scenario is the National Education Policy. It will make revisions that allow flexibility and autonomy for students to build contemporary and in-demand skills.

The Union Cabinet came forward with a new education policy in July 2020. The changes proposed therein will have a sweeping effect with the decisive switch of putting ‘employability’ in focus.

What is the National Education Policy?

The NEP aims to promote education among the people of India. It also provides the framework of teaching and learning for schools across the country. First introduced in 1968, the policy has undergone amendments in 1986 and 1992, before the latest changes in 2020 - almost three decades later.

The 2020 policy brings the highest degree of modification, notably in terms of the medium of instruction and segregation in levels of schooling. At the university level, revamping of curriculum, pedagogy, assessment and student support is in order, while also opening the country up for foreign universities, faculty and students.

Additionally, the policy will expose children to elements of the digital era - digital literacy, coding and computational thinking. This will give them an edge to start building their careers before the age of 18, preparing them, and thereby, the entire nation for the challenges and unexpected outcomes of the future.

Facing a digital divide

While such digital reforms may be easily adopted among the urban population, it is not the same in rural areas. Here, there is a lack of digital infrastructure. Many remote areas have no access to the internet, most households cannot afford smartphones, and schools do not have the facilities to support a digital transformation.

Keeping these divides in mind and the education policy reforms, BharatCares, a non-profit organisation in India launched a flagship initiative - Bharat e-Shiksha. It aims to make quality education accessible to underprivileged students.

This is currently being done through Digital Learning Centres (DLCs) launched in May 2021. Under this initiative, teachers and students in remote and rural areas are supported with educational content-loaded smart TVs. They also have access to mentored learning as well as digital devices.

To support the students at the centre, a network of Bharat e-Shiksha Volunteers (BEVs) are deployed. The organisation has conducted virtual sessions on topics like menstrual health, the importance of self-esteem, awareness of underage drinking, bullying, mental health, nutrition, career development and so on. Through regular activities like book reading the organisation also hopes to impart life skills to the students.

The program is currently targeted at government schools with a special focus on students between classes 6 to 10.

Students will receive six hours of learning every day - three hours through smart devices and the other three through mentored learning.

Click here to know more.

Roshini Muthukumar

Roshini Muthukumar, a native of Chennai, started her career as a content writer but made a switch to journalism to pursue her passion. She has experience writing about human interest stories, innovative technology, entrepreneurs, research blogs, and more. Previously, Roshini has done internships with The Hindu, Metroplus and worked as a correspondent with The Better India.