Now students will neither have to wait for long to get their textbooks or course books nor spend a huge amount to purchase them. They don’t even have to carry heavy bags to school. Thanks to an initiative taken by the Human Resource Ministry (HRD), education is becoming digitized. They can get each and every NCERT study material on the ePathshala – learning on the go app that has been launched recently by the HRD ministry.
Amarendra Behera, parent, writes in a review of the app, “A great effort by Government of India. All the NCERT text books can be accessed and downloaded free. The downloaded eBooks can be read offline as well.” The app is for parents, teachers and educators as well and each of them can log on to the app according to his or her role. Another user, Aswanii Yadav writes in his review, “The app is not only light and easy to use, but also very nicely organized.”
Accessible in three languages – English, Hindi and Urdu – the app aims to reduce the weight of school bags. As of now, some 16,000 teachers have registered to create a teachers’ network and the registration process is on. The Ministry has launched this app with the concept of ‘learning on the go’ while providing free access to NCERT books to students, parents and teachers. This is for the first time that all the NCERT books of classes 1 to 12 are available on a mobile phone application platform and the books are available in both English and Hindi languages.
The beauty of the app is that students can just download a particular chapter instead of the whole book as well as watch recorded videos of lectures. Not only that, inbuilt analytic tools will allow parents to keep a constant check on the learning outcomes of the students. Even school teachers can access various teaching instructions using the app.
The app was launched by HRD minister Smriti Irani. Speaking on the launch of this app, Irani said, “Through these mobile apps and website ePathshala, students, parents and teachers can access study material online. ePathshala is a technology-enabled educational product which changes the way students learn anywhere and anytime.” She further said that NCERT had also given copyrights to over eight state governments to print books as they deem fit to fulfil the requirements of their students. “We would also put out in public that NCERT has its own sales counter in Ajmer, Bhopal, Shillong, Bhubneswar, Mysuru, Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Kolkata, Guwahati and New Delhi, from where schools can procure these books in bulk.”
