NEW DELHI: United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) has conferred King Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa 2021, on Central Institute of Educational Technology (CIET), National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT), to make school education affordable and accessible to all children using ICT under the initiative PM eVidya.
PM eVidya is an initiative of the Ministry of Education, Government of India, launched as a subset of Aatmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan on May 17, 2020. The initiative was launched for the convergence of all the initiatives and programmes aiming to impart education using modern ICT technology. Thus, making quality education affordable and accessible to all the children, including those in the remotest areas, through TV channels, Radio Stations and other communication technology. To recognise these efforts made under the initiative PM eVidya, UNESCO has conferred the King Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa Prize for the year 2021, on the CIET, NCERT.
CIET, NCERT, has been trying to establish equality in the field of education using ICT without compromising with the quality, as per the recommendations made in the New Education Policy of 2020. To make school education accessible to all the children CIET, NCERT has designed and developed various eBooks, audio and video contents, Indian Sign Language (ISL) videos and audiobooks. Additionally, several e-courses have also been launched for both students and teachers. On-air technology, One Class-One Channel, DIKSHA, NISHTHA, ePathshala and SWAYAM are some of the other programmes in the field of education
PM eVidya, was launched for the convergence of all the efforts made by the different departments and institutions to make quality education for all by providing multi-modal access to digital education.
CIET is facilitating education to the children in the comfort of their homes through 12 PM eVidya DTH TV channels and 397 radio stations and community radio systems under the PM eVidya programme.