NEW DELHI: Prominent RSS educational outfits have demanded the online content of institutes such as Bhim Rao Ambedkar University in Gujarat and IGNOU be given recognition across the country and abroad and the legalities be evaluated so as to give an international branding to these programmes.
At a recent meeting with the HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar, the outfits drew attention to the fact that popular online courses of the Ambedkar university in Gujarat in political science, history and sociology have no recognition beyond Gujarat, thus reducing their scope and appeal.
They said the policy of the ministry should be such that the universities could offer degrees to global students.
The organisation also suggested that the course content can get an international branding and there can be two way flow of content where Indian content will have global recognition, sources who attended the meeting said. Besides, the meeting suggested reviving IGNOU’s study centres abroad to enable students abroad have seamless access to its study materials.
The suggestion of the right wing outfit comes at a time when the government is planning to rollout the Swayam project –— an online platform where more than 2,500 engineering and management courses of premier institutes will be made available for free. The platform will be connected to universities and institutes across the country. Professors and teachers could upload the lectures and videos for free. The government has also planned to offer courses on vedic maths, ancient science, Sanskrit and yoga programmes on this platform.
Sources said that the ministry was open to any good content on its online learning portal if it is available in the prescribed format. “If the Indian mathematics or Sanskrit learning lectures are available in the audio video format, they can be uploaded,” said a ministry official.