National Educational Alliance for Technology (NEAT) 3.0

NEAT 3.0 is a single platform to give the best-developed ed-tech solutions and courses to students. 58 global and Indian start-up ed-tech companies are onboard this single platform providing 100 courses & e-resources for  capacity building,  improving the learning outcomes, and developing employable skills of the learners.

Knowing the facts about NEAT 3.0 is important within the context of the IAS Exam.

Why is it in the news?

Union Education Minister & Skill Development Minister Dharmendra Pradhan launched NEAT 3.0 on January 3, 2022. 

Facts about NEAT 3.0

• 12 Lakh NEAT ed-tech free course coupons worth Rs 253.72 crore were also provided to socially and economically disadvantaged students.
• The Union Minister has urged the  AICTE to integrate courses in the NEAT programme with skill India . This will help in stimulating employability by finding the opportunities in emerging areas of skill and prepare the youth for the future. 
• He has suggested the AICTE and ed-tech companies to provide e-resources at minimum possible cost. 

This topic is important for GS Paper-2 and prelims exam of UPSC 2022

Benefits of NEAT 3.0

• NEAT will help in bridging the digital divide, especially among the economically disadvantaged learners.
• It will also help in fulfilling the knowledge-based requirement of India and the world.

What is NEAT?

• In 2019, the Ministry of Human Resource Development had announced the National Educational Alliance for Technology (NEAT) programme, which would make use of the Public-Private partnership PPP model.

(Note: the Ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD) was renamed the Ministry of Education in 2020.)

• MHRD created a National NEAT platform to give one-stop access to the technological solutions provided by the EdTech companies.. 
• Registration of the learners would be done through the NEAT portal by the EdTech companies. Development of solutions would also be the responsibility of the EdTech companies and could charge fees as per their policy. 
• EdTech companies would have to provide free coupons to the extent of 25% of the total registrations for their solution through NEAT portal. 
• The distribution of free coupons would be the responsibility of the MHRD. These would be given to the most socially/economically backward learners.
• Independent Expert Committees would be constituted to select the EdTech solutions and evaluate them as well. 
• MoUs will be signed with the shortlisted EdTech companies. 

This topic is also important for UPSC from the current affairs perspective. 

Who is the implementing agency of NEAT?

• All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) is the implementing agency for the programme. 
• The scheme is administered under the guidance of an Apex Committee constituted by the MHRD (now the Ministry of Education)

What is the aim of NEAT?

Its aims are:

• To use technology for better learning outcomes in Higher Education.
• To bring the best technological products in education pedagogy on a single platform for the convenience of students or learners.
• To improve the employability of the youth on a single platform.
• To use Artificial Intelligence for a personalized and customized learning experience for better learning outcomes and skill development. 
• AICTE, MoE act as the facilitator and aim to ensure that the solutions are freely available to a larger number of socially and economically disadvantaged learners. 

National Educational Alliance for Technology (NEAT) 3.0:-Download PDF Here

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