On 15th December, Meta (formerly Facebook) announced that it will expand its partnership with the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) to offer a curriculum on digital safety, online well-being, and augmented reality (AR) to over 10 million students and 1 million teachers across India over the next three years.
In addition, Meta and CBSE will democratise the high school curriculum by offering students with online access to high-quality educational information via modules posted on CBSE’s website, in line with the government’s goal of universalizing education.
Mark Zuckerberg, the founder and CEO of Meta, made the announcement at Meta’s Fuel for India 2021 conference. He also said, “I’m extremely enthusiastic about this partnership, and I believe it’s a big opportunity to invest in this entrepreneurial spirit and bring some of these metaverse tools and training to the Indian education system”.
The Facebook for Education program’s first phase began in June 2020, with the goal of preparing students and teachers for the future of work while also creating a safe online and learning environment.
More than 500,000 children expressed an interest in digital safety and online well-being, and over 14,000 teachers applied for augmented reality training.
In addition, the collaboration will strive to give instructors with cutting-edge tools and skills to assist Generation Z and Alpha children in becoming responsible digital citizens.
In accordance with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, Meta and CBSE will collaborate on content curation and curriculum creation that incorporates immersive technologies, augmented reality (AR), and virtual reality (VR) as skills subjects for students.
If AR experiences are included in the curriculum, students will be able to collaborate more actively and build their skills in emerging technologies. Students with a variety of learning difficulties and restricted access to lab materials will be able to learn in a fun and engaging way thanks to immersive education.
By making these new-age skills available to the youth and aiding them in becoming creators in the digital economy through fair access to resources, CBSE hopes to empower students in India’s underprivileged regions through its community skill centres.
According to Dr. Biswajit Saha, Director (Skills Education and Training) at CBSE, the pandemic has affected people all across the world. He also added that the way we learn has evolved in a surprising way. This considerable transition has resulted in a new set of challenges in terms of aiding students in their learning. With the help of Meta, we plan to enhance our online teaching and curricular capacities and make them available to students across the country.
According to Dr. Saha, this partnership will assist our teachers in gaining the required skills to effectively employ online platforms for student involvement.
