With COVID-19 pandemic transforming the teaching-learning process and shifting physical classrooms to virtual classrooms, the state Department of School Education (DoSE) has urged students to avail “India 4.0 – Dr. APJ”, under which one crore children from economically backward families studying in Classes V-X would be given “free 4.0 education”.
Speaking to Nagaland Post, assistant director school education and state nodal officer, B Nellayappan said that the notification of the project was issued on October 6, 2020 to private and government schools. However, he said that only 1000 students have registered for the project against 15,000 slots available for the state. Informing that phase-I would start on October 15, the nodal officer said that the selected students would have access to online programmes like xPM 4.0 (Exponential Performance Mindset) which accelerates personal and professional growth required for the 21st Century and CCBP 4.0 (Continuous Capacity Building Program) to build industry-ready skills.
Besides, he said that a comprehensive ecosystem for accelerated online learning was also designed with access to High Performance Frameworks like ICP, IGP, ICQ, ATF and High Performance Tools like Advanced Portal, IDM 4.0, iB Com free of cost. Nellayappan stated that the selected students would be trained by industry experts and alumni of Stanford, IITs, IIMs, etc and would be taken care of until they reach 21 years of age. He said that the training would completely online to help the child connect from anywhere and learn. The nodal officer maintained that building 4.0 skills right from an early age would open up immense opportunities for children and youth, be it in the job market or to create innovative products.
Further, Nellayappan said that the department would appoint district nodal officers (DNOs) to assist selected students in pursuing the course. He, therefore, encouraged school heads, teachers and parents to encourage children to make use of the opportunity.
The nodal officer said that interested students could visit https://www.onthegomodel.com/free-education-for-children and complete the registration well in advance as seats are offered on a first-come first-served basis.
He informed that department would be carrying out a survey next week, compulsory for all schools to ascertain children’s access to digital devices. The survey would be class-wise mapping on what facility the children have.
To ensure that no child was deprived of smart phones for online learning, the nodal officer said that the department was working on a mechanism of collecting old smart phones from well wishers for students who did not have access to smartphones. He said that DNOs would be appointed to collect the phones.
Nellayappan said that those who wish to donate old smartphones could register through the online education portal. He said that donors would be given the option to donate to the district of their choice. The nodal officer informed that notification would be issued shortly.