DIKSHA - National Teachers Platform For School Education

DIKSHA stands for Digital Infrastructure for Knowledge Sharing. It is a National Teacher Platform which is currently being used by teachers and students across the nation to provide school education through distance mode.

Amidst the disruption of schooling due to COVID-19, DIKSHA makes it possible for all states and Union Territories to enable learning and education at home through innovative state programs. DIKSHA is leapfrogging the use of technology for the benefit of teachers and learners across India.

Latest on Digital Infrastructure for Knowledge Sharing – DIKSHA Platform

• In February 2021, the Indian government’s edtech app DIKSHA hit 10 million installs. DIKSHA is 100% free to use, and owned and operated by the Ministry of Education (MoE).

The topic is important for various Government exams under the general awareness section. Hence candidates should carefully read the article to know the facts and details about the DIKSHA platform or initiative.

Aspirants of IAS exam might also encounter questions related to DIKSHA in the prelims, General Studies paper and as an essay question in the UPSC exam.  

Digital Infrastructure For Knowledge Sharing – DIKSHA Overview

1. DIKSHA is a national platform for school education launched on September 5th 2017
2. It is an initiative in the domain of digital learning by the National Council for Education Research and Training (NCERT) and the Ministry of Human Resource Development – MHRD
3. It was developed based on the core principles of open architecture, open access, open licensing diversity, choice and autonomy as outlined in the Strategy and Approach Paper for the National Teacher Platform.
4. National Teacher Platform has been branded as DIKSHA. The motto of DIKSHA is ‘our teachers are our heroes’.
5. DIKSHA – National Teachers Platform is built to host Open Educational Resources (OER) and tools for teachers in schools, teacher educators in Teacher Education Institutes (TEIs) and student teachers in TEIs.
6. The aim of this initiative is to help teachers and the students to continue their studies as usual and ensure holistic learning for both.
7. NTP is a minimal and generalised technology platform built using Open Standards and Application Program Interfaces (APIs) and will host Open Educational Resources (OER). It will also have tools and interfaces for the creation and consumption of teaching and learning content. As a shared infrastructure the platform will avoid duplication of effort and save costs.
8. It will cater to the needs of teachers including the development of attitude, skill and knowledge. The platform will continuously develop and evolve in an iterative manner based on user needs and stakeholder feedback.
9. NTP will cater to teachers from all stages of school education including pre-primary, primary, upper primary, secondary and senior secondary.
10. DIKSHA is available for the use of all states and UTs of India. Currently, it supports 18+ languages and the various curriculum of NCERT, CBSE and SCERTs across India.

Candidates preparing for various competitive exams can go through the links of relevant schemes of government related to education-

Features of NTP – National Teachers Platform

NTP contains the following features:

• Courses for teachers to enable continuous learning
• Resources for use in the classroom
• Dashboards for progress and assessment
• Communities for collaboration and discussions
• Announcements, notifications, and circulars

DIKSHA -National Teachers Platform Significance

1. It leverages existing highly scalable and flexible digital infrastructures while keeping teachers at the centre.
2. NTP aims to provide Teacher training courses such as training on learning outcomes, CCE, etc. Teaching resources such as lesson plans, concept videos, worksheets, mapped to curriculum and Assessments for teachers, to find out their strengths and areas of improvement. 
   • Aspirants can read about National Initiative for School Heads’ and Teachers’ Holistic Advancement (NISHTHA) Scheme on the given link.
   • Also, go through the information on STARS – Strengthening Teaching-Learning and Results for States on the given link.
3. It enables, accelerates and amplifies solutions in the realm of teacher education.
4. States, government bodies and even private organisations, can integrate DIKSHA into their respective teacher initiatives based on their goals, needs and capabilities.
5. The digital learning app is directed to access and created a comprehensive learning environment where both tutor and student can grow. 
6. It also provides access to NCERT textbooks and lessons, following the regular school curriculum.
7. The policies and tools of the platform make it possible for the education ecosystem to participate, contribute and leverage a common platform to achieve learning goals at scale for the country.
8. The platform is being leveraged and developed for school education, foundational learning programs and to support inclusive learning for underserved and differently-abled communities.

DIKSHA e-learning Portal Benefits

For Teachers – 

1. DIKSHA will serve as National Digital Infrastructure for Teachers. All teachers across the nation will be equipped with advanced digital technology.
2. It is built considering the whole teacher’s life cycle – from the time student teachers enroll in Teacher Education Institutes (TEIs) to after they retire as teachers.
3. The DIKSH e-learning portal enables the teachers to understand their career span. From the time they join the school to their retirement, they can map out their career progression and can work on their skills accordingly.
4. It will aid teachers to learn and train themselves for which assessment resources will be available. It will help teachers to create training content, profile, in-class resources, assessment aids, news and announcements and connect with the teacher community.

For Students – 

1. There will be direct interaction between teachers and students. 
2. Students will be able to understand concepts in an easy and interactive manner.
3. The app or e-learning portal of DIKSHA also facilitates the students to do quick revisions and test his/her learning through self-assessment practice exercises.

For Parents-

1. Parents can follow classroom activities and can clear their doubts outside school hours through one to one sessions with the teachers. It is a comprehensive platform for hassle-free interaction of all the stakeholders involved.

Aspirants preparing for any government exams can visit the link provided to prepare even better for the examination-

1. Free Online Quiz for Government Exams
2. Government Exams Free Mock Test Series
3. Government Exam Previous Year Question Papers with Solution PDFs

Digital Infrastructure for Knowledge Sharing – Related News

The Government of India has planned to start the next academic year virtually since many schools have been shut early March due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Steps taken –

1. The Centre plans to restart classes in the distance mode, with teaching via dedicated TV and radio channels in English and Hindi such as e-pathshala and Shiksha Vani respectively.
2. Swayam Prabha, an existing program, is a group of 32 DTH channels devoted to telecasting high-quality educational programmes on 24X7 basis using the GSAT-15 satellite.
3. If States are willing to produce the content in local languages, the Centre can give them 2-3 hours on the channel. Digital Infrastructure for Knowledge Sharing (DIKSHA) mobile app has been offered to States as a platform to provide content in local languages.
4. NIOS has been asked to create a structured programme for schools class-wise. This is being done along with the NCERT using their syllabus. The material will be ready for use by schools following the NIOS or the CBSE syllabus.

Candidates preparing for different exams can go through the following links for assistance in preparation-

Aspirants preparing for the UPSC exam can check the links given below –

1. UPSC 2023
2. UPSC Calendar 2023
3. UPSC Syllabus
4. Analysis of the Press Information Bureau

You can also check out the preparation strategies for competitive exams to fine-tune your exam prep.