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Rh 1. provide independent evidence-based advice to Central and State Government agencies on technology-based interventions;

2. build intellectual and institutional capacities in educational technology;

3. envision strategic thrust areas in this domain; and

4. articulate new directions for research and innovation.

23.4. To remain relevant in the fast-changing field of educational technology, the NETF will maintain a regular inflow of authentic data from multiple sources including educational technology innovators and practitioners and will engage with a diverse set of researchers to analyze the data. To support the development of a vibrant body of knowledge and practice, the NETF will organize multiple regional and national conferences, workshops, etc. to solicit inputs from national and international educational technology researchers, entrepreneurs, and practitioners.

23.5. The thrust of technological interventions will be for the purposes of improving teaching-learning and evaluation processes, supporting teacher preparation and professional development, enhancing educational access, and streamlining educational planning, management, and administration including processes related to admissions, attendance, assessments, etc.

23.6. A rich variety of educational software, for all the above purposes, will be developed and made available for students and teachers at all levels. All such software will be available in all major Indian languages and will be accessible to a wide range of users including students in remote areas and Divyang students. Teaching-learning e-content will continue to be developed by all States in all regional languages, as well as by the, CIET, CBSE, NIOS, and other bodies/institutions, and will be uploaded onto the DIKSHA platform. This platform may also be utilized for Teacher’s Professional Development through e-content. CIET will be strengthened to promote and expand DIKSHA as well as other education technology initiatives. Suitable equipment will be made available to teachers at schools so that teachers can suitably integrate e-contents into teaching-learning practices. Technology-based education platforms, such as DIKSHA/SWAYAM, will be better integrated across school and higher education, and will include ratings/reviews by users, so as to enable content developers create user friendly and qualitative content.

23.7. Particular attention will need to be paid to emerging disruptive technologies that will necessarily transform the education system. When the 1986/1992 National Policy on Education was formulated, it was difficult to predict the disruptive effect that the internet would have brought. Our present education system's inability to cope with these rapid and disruptive changes places us individually and nationally at a perilous disadvantage in an increasingly competitive world. For example, while computers have largely surpassed humans in leveraging factual and procedural knowledge, our education at all levels excessively burdens students with such knowledge at the expense of developing their higher-order competencies.

23.8. This policy has been formulated at a time when an unquestionably disruptive technology—Artificial Intelligence (AI) 3D/7D Virtual Reality—has emerged. As the cost of AI-based prediction falls, AI will be able to match or outperform and, therefore, be a valuable aid to even skilled professionals such as doctors in certain predictive tasks. AI’s disruptive potential in the workplace is clear, and the education system must be poised to respond quickly. One of the permanent tasks of the NETF will be to categorize emergent technologies based on their potential and estimated timeframe for disruption, and to periodically present this analysis to MHRD. Based on these inputs, MHRD will formally identify those technologies whose emergence demands responses from the education system.

23.9. In response to MHRD’s formal recognition of a new disruptive technology, the National Research Foundation will initiate or expand research efforts in the technology. In the context of AI, NRF may consider a three-pronged approach: (a) advancing core AI research, (b) developing and deploying application-based research, and (c) advancing international research efforts to address global challenges in areas such as healthcare, agriculture, and climate change using AI.