Can online learning be India's great leveler?

The National Education Policy (NEP), which was unveiled in 2020, essentially changed the landscape of higher education in the country by establishing for the first time as online and hybrid learning will be seen as being on par with traditional classroom instruction. By doing this, the policy sought to dismantle socioeconomic and geographic barriers to access, stating unequivocally that technology should be used in a way that makes high-quality education accessible to all people, irrespective of their circumstances or place of residence.

 

Keeping with the NEP's thrust to advance online delivery as a credible and effective medium of learning, the University Grants Commission (UGC) initially permitted 20% of a degree programme to be imparted online; this has since been doubled to 40%. At present, 116 institutions of higher learning offer over 1,100 Open & Distance Learning programmes and 102 institutions offer 544 fully online programmes collectively reaching over 19 lakh students.

 

Building on the NEP's expressed vision of greater flexibility, modularity and multiple entry/exit points, mechanisms like the Academic Bank of Credits (ABC) now make it possible for students to save and carry forward credits between institutions. Mass-scale platforms like SWAYAM, foreseen in the NEP to universalize access to high-quality courses, permit a maximum of 40% of total credits to be obtained through recognized MOOCs.

 

In the same vein, the new National Digital University (NDU) realizes the policy's vision of a digital infrastructure that shall provide equal access to learning regardless of geographical location.

 

Tangible progress aside, gaps between planning and implementation remain. NEP acknowledges the "digital divide" between students as a fundamental challenge, a fact that can still be observed in Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities wherein students rely on unreliable networks and shared computers. In such situations, the NEP's offer of flexibility can soon become frustration.

 

Faculty preparedness is also a bottleneck that remains an issue. It does not take much to record lectures and post them online; good online teaching demands considered instructional design, interactive presentation formats, and timely feedback. Without dedicated investment in faculty training, course quality will continue to be uneven across institutions.

 

Additionally credit mobility, while promising, is still difficult for students to navigate. Without academic counselling, the very freedom it offers can become overwhelming, leading learners to accumulate credits without a clear plan toward a degree or career goal.

 

While the NEP created equivalency in regulation between the two types of degrees to promote greater acceptability, business opinion tends to rely on the prestige of the institution and not tangible skills, limiting the complete fulfilment of the policy's purpose.

 

The first five years of the NEP provided online education with regulatory room to expand; the second five must demonstrate it can make a difference. This demands a clear transition from increasing capacity to measuring impact, a conviction well-stated in the policy's plea for 'quality, equity, efficiency, and empirical outcome-based monitoring.'

 

It begins with filling the last-mile gap. Public–private partnerships can extend stable broadband and low-cost devices to every district, not just the urban centers. Technology might be the delivery vehicle, but without the road, it doesn't go anywhere.

 

Faculty will need to go beyond delivery of content and transform into digital learning designers who can develop customized, interactive experiences that engage learners and sustain them. This will involve steady investment in training and instructional design support, reflecting the NEP's emphasis on "rigorous training in learner-centric pedagogy…using online teaching platforms".

 

We also need to measure what counts. Enrolment is simple to track; completion rates, skill acquisition, and employability are more challenging but significantly more valuable. Today, merely around 4% of students who sign up for MOOCs or SWAYAM courses complete them. That's a reminder that success is still being measured more in terms of sign-ups than the skills or opportunities learners actually achieve.

 

Obviously, outcome-based measurement will create accountability and make trust more robust, both from employers and from students, choosing where to spend their time and money.

 

Lastly, hybrid and online programs need to be viewed as equal, not second-best. The NEP calls for online learning to be marketed as a "choice for excellence," not an option of last resort. When students choose a blended route because it provides the highest quality of learning experience, not merely because that's what's on offer, attitudes will change. And that's when online learning will have finally arrived.

 

The merger of industry, academia, and regulators will be necessary for real transformation. Regulators' frameworks need to be adaptable enough to take into account new developments. Universities will need to develop strong online learning environments that offer mentoring, assessment, and interaction. Online learning can become not only similar to old methods but, in many cases, superior to them thanks to new technologies like immersive simulation and AI-based adaptive learning. When used properly, these technologies may personalize education at a level of scale that traditional classrooms just cannot match.

 

If we provide consistent quality, strong support, and transparent career prospects, online learning will not only level the playing field but will open it wider. A student in Buxar ought to have an equal chance at a world-class degree as a student in Bengaluru. That is the promise of NEP and one that needs to be kept.