Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has partnered with five international and national publishers to provide students with online resources for English, science, social sciences and mathematics including over 4500 animated content, 80 hours of live lectures and six hours of digitized simulation material starting August 2013, reports Times of India. The report states that the material will be available for free to government schools affiliated to the board while public schools can access the content for Rs 2 per month for classes I to VIII and Rs 10 per month for secondary classes. Speaking to the publication, Navin Maini, from the Research Office of CBSE said that secondary classes will have 3,000 animated videos while classes I to VIII will have 1,500 animated videos. Although the report mentions MacMillan India, the names of other partnering publishers is not clear. While the learning material is made available as CDs and in pen drives to aid economically backward students without internet connection, we wonder if the students will have access to computers outside of school premises. However, CBSE making a decision to supplement text book learning with digital resources indicates a major shift in the way one of the most widely studied education boards is the country is approaching learning. With schools across the country affiliated to CBSE, this could mean a uniform shift in several schools across the country. Other players in this space: There are several education start-ups in the country that offer e-learning solutions. In February 2013, Learnpedia, Hyderabad based digital…
