Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras) bagged key recognition in Wharton-QS Reimagine education awards, referred to as ‘the Oscars of education.’ As per a press release by the institute, while the BS in Data Science and Application won silver in the ‘Best Online Programme’ category, the National Programme on Technology Enhanced Learning (NPTEL), a joint initiative of IITs and IISc, won gold in the ‘Lifelong Learning category.’
What are these awards all about? The Wharton-QS Reimagine Education Awards recognise and celebrate outstanding achievements of educators, institutions and organizations that drive innovation and excellence in education. The award categories are designed to reflect the diversity and breadth of the education sector.
Who judges the awardees? The winners are selected by an expert panel. This year’s award ceremony was held recently at the Wharton Campus, Philadelphia, USA.
Conveying congratulations, the director of IIT Madras Prof V Kamakoti said, “We are honoured to receive these awards from Wharton-QS Reimagine Education. Our BS program and NPTEL are examples of how technology can be leveraged to deliver high-quality education to students, regardless of their location. We are committed to continuing to innovate and find new ways to enhance the learning experience for our students.”
Award for?
The IIT Madras BS in Data Science and Applications has been awarded the best online degree programme for providing a hybrid mode of teaching/learning utilizing multimedia and a combination of electronic and traditional educational models. Additionally, is uniquely designed to address the employability of undergraduates in the areas of Data Science and Application Development which attracted learners from even remote parts of India where outreach of digital literacy is minimal.
Another important feature of this programme is that it is more open than JEE and has an inclusive qualifier process. Also, it does not differentiate between the diverse backgrounds of the students (in terms of age, educational and socio-economic backgrounds, and location).
NPTEL won gold in the Lifelong Learning category for providing opportunities for personal and professional development, including upskilling and re-skilling. NPTEL is India’s largest technical dissemination programme. It is a consortium of seven IITs and IISc, and IIT Madras leads this effort.
This project NPTEL is funded by the ministry of education, Government of India, and aims to enhance the quality of engineering education in India by providing free online courses and video lectures, as stated in their press release.
