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Updated April 21st, 2021 at 18:03 IST

Will delay in board exam results affect students' dreams of studying abroad amid pandemic?

Will the delay in board exam results impact the students' dreams of studying abroad? How New Education Policy and online study programme help the students.

Reported by: Nandini Verma
Online education programme and NEP 2020
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With the increase in the number of COVID-19 cases in India, the government has postponed and cancelled the board exams. While the national boards like CBSE and ICSE have postponed the class 12 exams and cancelled the class 10 board exams, over a dozen of states have also followed the decision for their decision and implemented it in their states. The state and central government have stated that the decision to conduct the exams will be taken only after May, after considering the COVID situation in the country. 

The delay in board exams means a delay in results. The board exams are usually conducted in the months of February or March and the results are declared in May so that students can apply for admissions and entrance exams for higher studies. The academic session usually starts in July. The higher education institutions in India will start their academic sessions accordingly. But, those willing to take admission in foreign universities are worried if they will be left behind the academic sessions due to the delay in their board results. Considering the queries of students, we have interacted with some experts to cover all your questions. 

How the postponement of Board Exams in India is a matter of concern for some students

Q: Students are uncertain over admissions to foreign universities as Board exams are postponed- What can be the solution for the same?

"We have been working on some of these solutions. In our chats with a host of foreign Universities over the last few months, they have now committed to doing additional intakes in January, which students can then join. This will ensure they don’t end up wasting an academic year. Also, this year is seeing pent-up demand from last year, so admissions are way tougher than what it’s been for a long while. That means it’s important to be clear about what you want to do. We have been also recommending a wide variety of online programs and cohort-based courses that help students specialize and be an expert at functional subject areas in the meanwhile, as well as try volunteering for social causes, including in COVID relief, which will go a long way in demonstrating the empathetic + analytical self of the student, and the value they can add in a future classroom," Akshay Chaturvedi, Founder & CEO, Leverage Edu said.

Online Education in India and New Education Policy

With the implementation of the New Education Policy in India, students will get the opportunity to study any course online from their desired institutes. The pandemic has made way to online classes, online programs as well as online degrees in the Indian education system. The New Education Policy (NEP) will give a boost to online education in the country. 

Q: How the new online education rules will enable institutions to offer courses for both regular students as well as working professionals?    

  • Responding to the question, Prof. Col. Shishir Kumar, Director, ImaginXP said, "According to the new Govt. regulations select universities can now provide 100% online degrees. This is exciting news for the higher education sector which has till now been restricted to an offline-only presence limiting their reach to wider audiences. Online degrees open up a plethora of opportunities for universities to offer courses to both regular students as well as working professionals.
  • Regular students from all across the country will now have access to the best institutes right from their hometowns and reduce the economic and social pressures of having to move to a different state or town to pursue good quality education. This is true not only for post-graduate but also undergraduate applicants who will no longer be geographically limited in the choices that they make.
  •  Online degrees also make it easier for students to pursue a job while they study. What this means that a larger number of students who drop out of formal education at an undergraduate or postgraduate level due to economic pressures will now be able to complete their degrees online while also being employed full time. This will be a huge impact on those students who earlier felt that they could not afford to or have the time to complete a full-time degree.
  • This also means that now working professionals can consider upskilling themselves with a post-graduate degree without having to leave their jobs for a full-time degree. Today, India has one of the largest and youngest workforces in the world which is hungry to grow and participate in the Atmanirbhar Bharat. However, the skilled workforce in India is only about 5%, and reports state that nearly 40% require immediate reskilling or upskilling. Today this skilling demand is only met by short-term certification courses but 100% of online degrees provide professionals an opportunity to get best-in-class education while still continuing with their careers.

Q: How the decision will include 73% of the eligible student population which is not currently a part of the formal higher education system?  

  • Currently, the Gross Enrolment ratio (GER) in India is at 26.3%. This means that of all the population in the 18-23 age group only 26.3% are pursuing higher education in the country. Comparably, China has a GER of 49%, Brazil 51.3%, and Indonesia is at 36.4%. India is sorely lacking behind even when compared to our close neighbors and other developing countries. 
  • A large percentage of the eligible population is currently unable to access higher education either due to lack of affordability, accessibility, or the need to forgo a full-time education for immediate employment.
  • Online degrees will thereby also assist in increasing the overall GER of the country by providing access and affordability to those students who are today unable to pursue higher education. The new policy also opens the market for innovative degree programs such as work-integrated degree programs, employer-sponsored degree programs, and many more which are being brought to the market by ed-tech companies such as ImaginXP in collaboration with universities as well as employers, Shishir Kumar said.

Q: What are the implication of the decision of making online degrees available through Universities.

"There is a sharp focus by the Govt. to not only allow for online degrees and help increase our GER but also to solve the problem of employability gap and create programs which a focused on future skills which are in demand in the industry. The idea is not to create more and more unemployable graduates but rather to arm the young workforce to be successful in the modern Indian economy. So one of the core challenges of the university would be to create programs that are industry-relevant and focused on employability. Universities will need to depend on private partnerships to be able to bring in innovative and future-looking curriculum, keep up with industry demands and inculcate innovative online teaching pedagogies. The other challenge for universities is technology. Erstwhile universities have hardly been technology first and operating an online degree would require investments in the technology infrastructure, creation of digitally compatible content and curriculum as well as training educators to deliver online classes. This is a paradigm shift in the traditional workings of a university that will need to rely on Edtech companies such as ImaginXP which can help them in their online journeys by providing, technology, content, and trained online faculty," Shishir Kumar said.

Q: Why foreign university collaborations could be the game-changer for higher education in India?

A: Among other things, foreign universities come with two very loaded advantages: their faculty and their curriculum. Given the academic ecosystem abroad is far more advanced and entrenched, their papers sitting in top journals, and they themselves on boards of top Fortune 500 - the access to top Professors like these is a very significant takeaway from University life. On the other point, a large variety of courses are not available domestically today, and the mainstream that are don’t have branch off-shoots that encourage students to go deep enough and master a subject. We need to really re-do our curriculums. Hence just these two factors will be an incredible value add, to begin with, Akshay Chaturvedi, Founder & CEO, Leverage Edu said.

(Disclaimer: Opinions shared by the experts here are personal. Republic World doesn't take any responsibility for the same.)

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Published April 21st, 2021 at 18:03 IST

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