National Digital University (NDU)

During the Education ministers session of ‘Voice of Global South’ summit held recently, Indian Union minister of Education talks about establishing a National Digital University, which will transform access to higher education drastically reducing all direct and opportunity costs.

Why in News ?

The UGC Chairman recently revealed the framework of India’s first-ever National Digital University(NDU) as envisioned under the National Education Policy, 2020.

About National Digital University(NDU)

What is it? The Central Government in its Budget 2022-23 announced the establishment of a digital university that provides access to students for world-class quality universal education with personalized learning experiences at their doorsteps.

Structure of NDU

The institution will function under a hub-and-spoke model, which is where one product is delivered to various stakeholders from a central location.

The digital content for various courses will be hosted on the Study Webs of Active-Learning for Young Aspiring Minds (SWAYAM) platform.

The IT and administrative services will be provided through the government’s Samarth portal.

Facilities offered

The university will offer exclusively online courses from its partner institutes, which could be both private and public universities, so far as they follow the NDU’s model.

The students can opt for certificate, diploma, or degree courses.

NDU will allow students to pursue multiple courses at a time from the various partner institutes of NDU.

Students will be able to register for programmes of individual universities through this Digital University.

NDU aims to give students the liberty to design their own courses.

How are academic credits granted ?

Students will have the option of earning credits from multiple institutions and will have multiple exit points throughout the course.

Courses will hold a certain number of credits, and students will be eligible for a degree from a particular institute when they have accumulated 50% of the credits of a programme from the institute concerned.

In case the student earns credits from multiple institutions and crosses the credit threshold, the degree awarded will be by NDU.