UGC chief Mamidala Jagadesh Kumar recently revealed the framework of the Nat-ional Digital University (NDU), as envisioned under the National Education Policy, 2020. Anvitii Rai looks at how the NDU will function, what the technicalities will be, how degrees will be awarded, and what are the objections to the concept

How will the university be structured?

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 institution will function under a hub-and-spoke model, which is where one product is delivered to various stakeholders from a central location. In this model, courses are to be made accessible to students from one portal. In this case, it is the Study Webs of Active-Learning for Young Aspiring Minds (SWAYAM) portal of the government. The students can opt for certificate, diploma, or

degree courses.

How will academic credit be granted?

Students will be granted the liberty to sign up for whichever courses they like, which, in essence, means that they will be free to design their own curriculum. 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.

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NDU will also be connected with the Academic Bank of Credits, which means that students will have the option of earning credits from multiple institutions and will have multiple exit points throughout the course. Based on the same, they can be awarded certificates, diplomas, or degrees.

How many seats will be available for programmes?

According to Kumar, there will be an unlimited number of seats for every course. This ties in with the government’s aim to solve the problem of the limited number of seats available currently in higher education institutes. Thus, any student who has successfully completed Class 12 is eligible to enrol in the NDU.

What are the problems NDU aims to solve?

This model of a digital university aims to integrate the youth of today with the constant need of skill upgrades in a rapidly developing and dynamic industry landscape where they would learn to upskill and reskill. This could also solve the problem of limited access to seats within the higher education ecosystem. Lastly, as it is completely online, it can give students who, for some reason, cannot be present at regular colleges, to complete higher education.

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What are the objections to the concept so far?

There have been some objections on the liberty being given to students on designing their own curriculum. The main argument remains that a university’s claim to fame, so to speak, is the course structure, and if the student is doing so for themselves, then the

credibility of the programme overall can be brought into question.

Another area where there have been some objections is concerning the unlimited number of seats. This concept has been questioned on the basis of the quality of education that could be diluted if there is no cap on the number of students who will be allowed to enroll, seeing that teaching as well as evaluation will be conducted online.

Lastly, educators are also concerned about the lack of experiences and skills that NDU students will encounter as there will be no environment of a higher education institute for them, such as interactions with fellow students and professors and acquiring skills like academic discussion and critical reasoning.