65 Pct Leap in Higher Education Enrollment in 4 Years

He said "We have come up with a five-point action plan based on the advantages of new technology. You will hear much more about this in the coming days," reported TOI.

He said that the measures seek to harness the internet and cloud-computing with low cost devices like tablets, including Akash, the Rs 1,500 tablet adopted by HRD ministry for free distribution (with 50 percent  of the cost being borne by the education institution and the other 50 percent by the Centre), and mobile phones.

Sibal said that 2.5 lakh villages would be connected by fibre optics to build a powerful information highway. He said "The last-mile connectivity would be wireless-accessed by tablets and mobile phones. Not just courses, video uploads can create virtual workshops and labs as well as self-assessment procedures," as reported by TOI.

The five changes coming are- Low-cost devices such as tablets and mobile phones that would play vital role in education in absence of physical infrastructure. Secondly, proliferation of cloud-computing will serve 4 regions which, in turn, will serve various colleges. Open education resources are to be expanded by providing course content through IT highway, where communications network will be built. Hundreds of courses will be sent out online and it will be made possible for students to create own combination - e.g., mathematics and music. Lastly, communications infrastructure will help create virtual world for students to work with machines on the net or carry out lab experiments.