NCERT books will have QR codes from 2019, says HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar

Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister Prakash Javedekar on Thursday said that the NCERT published textbooks will carry QR codes from 2019. He said that the this would help the students to understand the chapters better by watching a movie or reading additional content on their laptops.

Quick Response (QR) code is a machine-readable code which consists of an array of black and white squares. These barcodes are essentially the web links which can be read by the smartphone cameras.

Javadekar, while addressing the reporters, said that students who take educations loans will not be required to pay the interest for the duration of the course plus one year.

He added the government has made a provision of Rs 6,600 crore for bearing the interest component on the education loans.

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About 10 lakh students would avail the benefits from 2017-18 to 2019-20, said the minister. He added that the government would bear about Rs 2,200 crore per year towards the interest costs on the loans.

The BJP leader also stated that the government will bear the interest cost on the education loans up to Rs 7.50 lakh for students from families with less than Rs 4.5 lakh annual income.

Prakash Javadekar, while briefing the reporters about the Cabinet’s decisions, also said that the government had spent Rs 800 crore per year from 2009 to 2014 under the said scheme. He informed that the spending had increased to Rs 1,800 crore per year from 2014 to 2017.

On the NCERT text books, the union minister said that they would be ‘energised’, carrying QR codes, allowing the students access additional material to supplement the chapter.

The HRD minister also informed that the government had decided to merge the three existing schemes on improving public education-the Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan, the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan and the Teacher Education (TE).

He also said that a committee was formed to look into the issue of promoting digital board by replacing the blackboard to improve the quality of education in the country. He added that the committee will give the report in a month’s time.

(With PTI Inputs)