India's efforts to expand access to higher education gained momentum on Monday after Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said technology-driven bilingual management education can narrow the rural-urban gap and make quality learning accessible to a broader section of society.
Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal, while virtually launching the online bilingual Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) programme at Indian Institute of Management Udaipur, said the initiative marks an important move towards making high-quality management education more accessible through digital technology.
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Offered in both Hindi and English, the programme aims to make IIM education more inclusive and accessible for students from diverse backgrounds.
According to Goyal, IIM education in English and Hindi will help in making its quality and credibility more accessible for a wider section of the population.
Highlighting India's nearly one billion internet users, the minister said technology should be leveraged to deliver quality education at scale in line with the National Education Policy.
He said virtual classrooms would enable students from remote towns and villages to access IIM lectures through laptops or smartphones, while offline examinations would ensure academic integrity.
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Goyal also suggested strengthening the programme through monthly faculty interactions, soft-skill development, and experiential learning via visits to factories, ports and industrial clusters.
Such exposure, he said, would equip students with practical management skills alongside classroom learning.
Referring to the rapid evolution of artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies, the minister said management education must continuously adapt to changing industry requirements.
He noted that the pandemic accelerated the adoption of online education and established EdTech as a vital part of India's learning ecosystem.
Calling the IIM brand globally respected, Goyal expressed confidence that the programme's first batch would set new benchmarks while producing future business leaders and entrepreneurs.
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