National Digital University

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.

Details –

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) –

• 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 personalised 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.