Education Minister to Confer Coupons to 12 Lakh Students to Pursue Free Online Courses

The education ministry is giving away as many as 12 lakh coupons for online learning courses for upskilling, reskilling, and enhancing the employability skills of students. The National Educational Alliance for Technology (NEAT) coupons are being given to students from economically and socially disadvantaged sections of society.

These courses are aimed at making students proficient in current knowledge of latest technologies, proficiency in the field of computer, managerial skills etc. Subjects are selected as per the candidates’ individual abilities using artificial intelligence.

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The Ministry of Education’s (MoE) All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE) has partnered with various education technology companies for providing online learning courses which were selected by the council on the basis of several parameters. Candidates who have already completed the registration process for the coupon will receive them today, January 3.

The NEAT portal first phase was launched on January 12, 2020. It aims to make students more employable by training them in courses and skills in demand. NEAT was introduced ” to verify, aggregate, and deliver edtech solutions directly to the students, giving them wide choice to select the technological solution that would suit their requirements, thereby improving their overall learning outcomes,” AICTE said.

The edtech companies offer certification courses, psychometric tests, assessment tests, laboratory tools, internship support, aptitude tests, cognitive skills, e-content for nice areas having highly marketable skills, placement support, internship support, management, account, and finance, or any other product/ course related to the degree/diploma of engineering pharmacy and management students are considered for NEAT.

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The companies have to put a clear disclaimer mentioning the payment, refund, copyright, and quality of the product, before participating in the selection process of NEAT, the government said. To participate in the scheme, the companies also have to submit a certain number of coupons as free in advance to AICTE. For other seats, the edtech companies can charge a fee as per their policy.

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