It was recently reported that IIT directors are contemplating to set up a virtual university, in order to spread accross IT education to more students. MS Ananth, IIT-Madras Director, mentioned that the initiative is an attempt to make quality education available to more students. The proposal of the same has been accepted as a part of the National Mission of Education through ICT (NMEICT) the details are yet to be worked out and the plan would be rolled out over two years.
It was also reported that already 240 courses had been designed by the IITs and Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. More than 1,000 courses are to be developed during the second phase. The Ministry of Human Resources Development has allotted INR 4,600 crore for three years till March 2012 for NMEICT, the mission under which course content is being developed and virtual labs will be credited. BSNL has been asked to provide the necessary bandwidth to ensure that no college is without connectivity.
