The lockdown was an opportunity for higher education institutions to make rapid progress towards digitisation. This led to profound changes in the way education is provided. Hemant Sahal, the founder & CEO of CollPoll—a digital campus platform for educational institutes—shared with FE the higher education trends for 2023.
Full-fledged online degrees: The University Grants Commission (UGC) has approved full-fledged online degree programmes in 38 universities, providing students with a wide range of educational opportunities. “The UGC is expected to allow almost 900 autonomous colleges to offer online degree programmes in the near future,” Sahal said.
Boost in enrolment: The National Education Policy (NEP 2020) aims to increase the gross enrolment ratio (GER) to 50% by 2035 in higher education by restructuring curriculum and pedagogy, and reforming assessments.
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Diversity in UG and PG courses: Sahal said that higher education institutes are fast moving towards diversification in terms of courses. “From liberal arts to fashion and media communications, many new courses have been added to various streams,” Sahal said.
Flexible learning pathways: Higher education space is becoming more and more flexible, with students being able to choose their own academic journeys rather than conforming to set standards. “Multiple entry and exit points, and progression routes between educational institutions, courses and levels bring many benefits to individuals and society, especially in terms of equity, employability and resource efficiency,” Sahal said.
Beyond transactional operations: As a result of education industry’s growth, student experience has taken precedence over transactional operations. Institutions are focused on enhancing student experience through on-campus safety, mental well-being, grievance redressal, and other services.
Higher adoption of technology: The ease of operations and opportunity to manage entire academic and non-academic activities on a single online platform has enhanced student engagement, reduced the workload on teaching and non-teaching staff, and improved the overall user experience.