CHENNAI: The Ministry of Human Resource Development has signed a memorandum of understanding(MoU) with the Afghanistan government to work on digital education initiatives, which include many prominent programs developed by Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs). The MoU was signed at IIT-Madras on Friday, said a statement issued by the institute.
This collaboration hopes to contribute to bilateral relations and beget mutual benefits for the two countries.
Speaking during the occasion, R Subrahmanyam, higher education secretary, said, “The historic ties between India and Afghanistan would grow further with this collaboration. This would enrich the lives of young people achieve their aspirations.”
Professor M Homayoun Qayoumi, senior advisor to the President of Afghanistan and acting Minister of Finance, highlighted the impact of education in the progress of every country and said this collaboration would help in providing better education facilities.
One of the main objectives of the MoU is to facilitate students and faculty from Afghanistan to enrol and learn from the courses offered on Study Webs of Active Learning for Young Aspiring Minds (SWAYAM), which is an online education platform developed by Government of India. It will expose them to latest technology courses and also upskill them in areas of their interest.
In addition, it will facilitate use of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) available in SWAYAM Platform by students and faculty of the educational institutions in Afghanistan. IIT-Madras has been the forerunner, starting the MOOCs initiative as early as 2014, besides developing and strengthening the MOOCs portal.
Help to develop curriculum
The MoU will also facilitate assisting the Ministry of Higher Education (MoHE) of Islamic Republic of Afghanistan to carry out the curriculum development process, including sharing of curriculum developed by the govern-ment of India