National Education Policy 2020 and Open Educational Resources: A Theoretical Outlook

OER is immensely required for the implementation of NEP 2020 in India. The term OER first came to use in 2002 at the UNESCO Conference. According to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) 2007, OER refers to digitized materials offered freely and openly for educators, students and self-learners to use and reuse for teaching, learning and research purposes. NEP 2020 is a comprehensive framework to control the development of education in our country. This policy is the first inclusive, participatory, flexible, holistic and multidisciplinary approach that suits 21st century needs to reform the existing educational structure of India for competing with the leading countries of the world. Special Education Zones (SEZs) to be set up in aspirational districts, with targeted focus on improving the quantity and quality of learning. A comprehensive set of recommendations is provided in NEP, for the promotion of online education in the wake of the recent outbreak of pandemics to ensure the availability of quality alternative education modes anytime-anywhere. MHRD is going to create a special unit focusing on building digital content and infrastructure to ensure the futuristic goal of e-education. Proper online assessment mechanisms will be developed. This paper gives a detailed account of various OER initiatives in India, so that it will be helpful to the students at different levels to acquire their diversified needs of information, which is the main objective of NEP 2020.