A Nationwide survey on E-Learning Readiness for College Students

Recently, SCCN launched a nationwide survey seeking to understand the 'E-learning readiness' for the college goers in the country- a particularly relevant subject in the current pandemic induced remote learning.

The survey is designed to assess the preparedness in terms of access and quality of infrastructure related to e-learning for college students. The survey has been supported by All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE) which has taken an active role in making the survey known across several states in the country. The survey has currently generated more than 15000 responses with a good variance of responses from urban as well as rural areas.

There are several opportunities that have emerged for widening the reach of higher education under the present circumstances, where Gross Enrollment Ratio in higher education is below 30%. Several hours of lectures on online platforms such as Zoom or Google meet, giving written and viva exams online along with other manner of coursework added to the online platform have meant different outcomes for different students depending on the preparedness of their colleges and their own preparedness- determined by factors such as regularity of internet and electricity, availability of devices appropriate for learning and several other qualitative aspects such as attentiveness generated and skillful delivery by lecturers. India currently has 95.2 % of its population who have access to electricity (World Development Indicators, 2017), 86 mobile cellular subscriptions for every 100 people (World Development Indicators, 2018). However, it does poorly in terms of hours of service of its electricity as well as internet connections, only 1.3 people per 100 people have a broadband connection in India; Further there is a lack of access to laptops and computers in the country which creates serious barriers to learning. In light of this we have designed our survey to assess the situation better and understand the lack of infrastructure creating barriers of access and feasibility of higher education in India. The All India Survey on Higher Education 2018-19 showed that at the undergraduate level itself about 6.4 million students graduated from various programs in the previous academic year in India. Given such a large population of the students graduating each year, ensuring equity in access and quality of internet network is an urgent and pressing concern.

The education paradigm is shifting really fast in the country, with several states adopting innovative ways of teaching through TV channels and the radio -trying to meet the challenge of providing an inclusive education using the existing infrastructure. Our survey seeks to find the preparedness of infrastructure in this context, to capture a picture of the reality of e-learning in India.

Survey Link- https://forms.gle/KB4dU41N9gpqCEGJ7