S. Vishnu Sharma
AICTE, All India Council for Technical Education is said to have started a website to connect students and teachers across the nation.
Sources say, the purpose behind commencement of the portal by AICTE is to keep students connected to their academics and also help students who are stuck in various cities owing to coronavirus outbreak.
AICTE: Great, portal to help students Estbd, COVID-19
Sources further say, work of bringing out the portal was taken by AICTE in association with Technology, Education, Research and Rehabilitation for the Environment (TERRE) Policy Centre.
AICTE and TERRE have come together to bring out smart solutions for learning with help of Smart Campus Cloud Network (SCCN). The website is said to be already operational and links students who are requiring assistance to those who can provide it.
More than 6000 colleges are said to have come forward to become a part of this, students can ask questions and receive the support. The support provided is with regards to food, online classes, mentoring, queries on examinations, admissions, scholarships, health and transport.
Even voluntary organisations, philanthropic organisations are also said to have been encouraged to be a part of this website. This is being done so that students who are stranded across the globe will be able to get help.
Students who are stuck in different cities and have no family members there can also approach the portal. Queries of this type will be taken by the website and send it to counsellors or teachers concerned.
Starting of this portal by AICTE and TERRE has come of a praise by many sections. Coronavirus outbreak has affected the lives of many, students across various cities in India are not an exception.
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Amidst such a situation, it is no less praiseworthy that a website is brought out in less time. This also an example of how technology can be made to use for lending a helping hand to those in need for help.
It may not be possible to reach out to everyone in this moment of crisis, but technology can take the help to many when tough times are ruling the roost.
About the website
The website can be accessed at ‘https://helpline.aicte-india.org/‘ Once the web page downloads, candidates are asked to enter the city they are living in.
Students can enter the city they are staying and click ‘continue’ to avail help. Once the web page downloads after ‘continue’ is clicked, students can see ‘COVID-19 Emergency Helpline Numbers of various states in India.
They can also see help regarding ‘classes related issues,’ ‘placement related issues,’ ‘scholarship related matters,’ ‘library and books,’ ‘counselling,’ ‘food, canteen, mess,’ ‘accommodation,’ ‘academic calendar related issues,’ ‘health and medicines related issues,’ ‘internet connectivity,’ ‘transport’ and ‘Harassment related matters.’
They can even access city based services (services available in the city they are currently residing) and also know how to conduct a self-assess test for COVID-19.
All students have to do is to place the mouse on any of the links and click them. List of persons to be contacted for help and their numbers and mode to contact them can be accessed.
These services can be accessed not only in english, but also in various other Indian languages. The services are available in Punjabi, Bengali, Gujarathi, Telugu, Tamil, Urdu, Kannada, Marathi, Sindhi and Hindi.
People behind the website
The main persons behind the development of the website are said to be Professor Anil D. Sahasrabudhe, chairman, AICTE, Professor M.P. Poonia, vice-chairman, AICTE, Dr. Buddha Chandrasekhar, chief coordinating officer at AICTE and Shivanshu Gupta (intern at AICTE, Graphic Era University) and Akash Pandey (intern at AICTE, Graphic Era University).
About AICTE
All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) was set up in November 1945 as a national-level apex advisory body to conduct a survey on the facilities available for Technical Education and to promote development in the country in a coordinated and integrated manner. And to ensure the same, as stipulated in the National Policy of Education (1986), AICTE was vested with statutory authority for planning, formulation, and maintenance of norms and standards.