Cabinet nod for convergence of 2 e-learning schemes

NEW DELHI, NOV. 1: From- http://www.thehindubusinessline.com

The Union Cabinet on Tuesday approved the merger of two Government schemes - National Mission on Education through Information and Communication Technology (NMEICT) and National Knowledge Network (NKN).

e-learning

The former was run by the Human Resource Development Ministry and the latter was under the Department of Information Technology, Ministry of Communications and IT.

Under NKN, the aim was to connect 1,500 educational institutions with high speed data communication network.

The Cabinet meeting, chaired by the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, decided to set a target of enabling e-learning in 25,000 colleges and 2,000 polytechnics. Of these, 18,000 colleges had been approved by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs in 2009.

“There will be a shift in technology from copper wire-based connectivity to optic fibre cable (OFC)-based connectivity in respect of already connected universities and university-level institutions. The remaining universities, university level institutions will be connected on OFC with the provisioning of 400 nodes of LAN (local area network) on an average (including private universities),” said Ms Ambika Soni, Minister for Information & Broadcasting.

The estimated cost for providing connectivity to 2,000 polytechnics is Rs 13.50 crore a year, she said.

The number of universities and institutions of national importance to receive connectivity has been raised to 572 from 419.

The ultimate target is to provide last mile connectivity and provide high quality e-content to universities and colleges across the country, Ms Soni added.