In a meeting with directors of Centrally funded technical institutions including the IITs on Thursday via video conferencing, Prime minister Narendra Modi said that digitization of higher education can play a role in increasing enrolments as it gives access to affordable education. Over 100 heads of higher education institutions and the newly appointed union education minister attended the virtual meeting  

PM Modi said there is a need to move towards “education models that are flexible, seamless and able to provide learning opportunities as per the requirements of the learners”. He underlined the need for affordable technology-driven education and asked institutions to “adapt higher education and technical education… in tune with the changing environment and emerging challenges.”

He emphasised that access, affordability, equity, and quality should be the core values of such education models. He also spoke about a need to develop an ecosystem of technological education in Indian languages and translate global journals into regional languages.

 

He added that technological, R&D institutions will play a major role in the upcoming decade, which is also being called as “India’s Techade”.  He asked the higher education institutes to focus on developing futuristic solutions in fields of education, healthcare, agriculture, defense, and cyber technologies.

Prime Minister highlighted that it good quality infrastructure in higher education institutions  is important to ensure that products associated with Artificial Intelligence, smart wearables, augmented reality systems, and digital assistants reach the common man. He emphasized that we should focus on affordable, personalized, and AI-driven education.