BSNL to Connect IIT's Virtual University Project

Indian Institutes of Technology will finally open their gates wider. Assigned the task of reaching out to more Indian students, IIT directors are drawing up plans to set up a virtual university. IIT to join hand with Public sector Telecom major and Broadband service provider BSNL to setup Virtual Network for University. BSNL has been asked to provide the necessary bandwidth to ensure that no college is without connectivity.

IIT-Madras director M S Ananth said, “Wee basically want to make quality education accessible to many more students using modern tools instead of setting up brickand-mortar campuses.’’ The proposal has been accepted as part of the National Mission on Education through ICT (NMEICT). But Ananth was quick to add that the details are yet to be worked out and the plan would be rolled out over two years. ‘‘We will involve industry in administering the programme. Moreover, we need to create labs where students can perform experiments. The IITs will take care of the entry, the exit and develop the courses,’’ he explained.