CollabCAD

Context:

Atal Innovation Mission, NITI Aayog, and National Informatics Centre (NIC) jointly launched CollabCAD.

About CollabCAD:

• CollabCAD is a collaborative network, computer-enabled software system, providing a total engineering solution from 2D drafting & detailing to 3D product design.
• The aim of this initiative is to provide a great platform to students of Atal Tinkering Labs (ATLs) across the country to create and modify 3d designs with a free flow of creativity and imagination.
• This software would also enable students to create data across the network and concurrently access the same design data for storage and visualization.
• ATLs established across India, provide tinkering spaces to children to hone their innovative ideas and creativity.
• A customized version of CollabCAD for ATLs with features that are most relevant to school students to materialize their ideas and creativity into physical solutions has been developed to enable designing without constraints and, thus, allowing creativity and innovation to thrive.

3D Printing

• 3D printing or additive manufacturing is the process of making three-dimensional solid objects from a digital file.
• The creation of a 3D printed object is achieved using additive processes. In an additive process, an object is created by laying down successive layers of material until the object is created.

2D Drafting

• 2D Drafting is the creation of accurate representations of objects for manufacturing and engineering needs.
• It is used to fully and clearly define requirements for concepts or products so as to convey all the required information that will allow a manufacturer to produce that component.

Important Government initiatives promoting online education

• SWAYAM: The ‘Study Webs of Active Learning for Young Aspiring Minds (SWAYAM) is an integrated platform for offering online courses and covering school (9th to 12th) to Post Graduate Level.
• SWAYAM Prabha: SWAYAM Prabha is an initiative to provide 32 High-Quality Educational Channels through DTH (Direct to Home) across the length and breadth of the country on a 24X7 basis.
• National Digital Library (NDL): The National Digital Library of India (NDL) is a project to develop a framework of a virtual repository of learning resources with a single-window search facility.
• Free and Open Source Software for Education (FOSSEE): FOSSEE is a project promoting the use of open-source software in educational institutions.
• E-Yantra: e-Yantra is a project for enabling effective education across engineering colleges in India on embedded systems and Robotics.
• Other major initiatives include:
  • UG/PG MOOCs for non-technology courses
  • E-PG Pathshala or e-content containing modules on social science, arts, fine arts, natural and mathematical science
  • CEC-UGC YouTube channel
  • Vidwan – a database of experts who provide information to peers and prospective collaborators,
  • NEAT – an initiative by AICTE based on the PPP model to enhance the employability skill among students, in collaboration with Education Technology Companies and National Digital Library (NDL), a repository of learning resources with a single-window facility.
  • Many noteworthy initiatives have been taken up like Spoken Tutorial, Google Classroom, and so on.

Important Government initiatives for Tribal Education

• First FYP: Starting from the First Five Year Plan Period1 (1951-1956) the government is steadily allocating financial resources for the purpose of tribal development.
  • Towards, the end of the plan (1954), 43 Special Multipurpose Tribal Development Projects (MTDPs) were created.
• It was generally implemented in the areas where the Scheduled Tribe population was more than 50 percent of the total population.
• PESA: The Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996 in fact, has made it mandatory for the States having scheduled areas to make specific provisions for giving wide-ranging powers to the tribes on the matters relating to decision-making and development of their community.
• Janshala Programme: The Janshala Programme is a collaborative effort of the Government of India (GOI) and five UN Agencies – UNDP, UNICEF, UNESCO, ILO, and UNFPA. ” It is a community-based primary education program, aims to make primary education more accessible and effective, especially for girls and children in deprived communities, marginalized groups, SC/ST/minorities, children with specific needs.
• Ashram Schools: The educational needs of tribal children are primarily addressed through residential schools called ashram schools.
• There are more than 800 centrally sanctioned ashram schools spread across the country.
• These provide boarding and lodging facilities to children in tribal areas until they complete their secondary education.
• Eklavya Model Residential Schools: Apart from these, the government has also startedEklavya Model Residential Schools on the lines of KGBVs and NavodayaVidyalayas.
• Third FYP: During the Third Five Year Plan Period (1961-1966), the government adopted the strategy of converting areas with more than 66 percent tribal concentration into Tribal Development Blocks (TBDs).
• Fourth FYP: By the end of the Fourth Five Year Plan (1969-1974), the number of TBDs rose to 504. Additionally, in 1972 the Tribal Sub-Plan Strategy (TSP) was implemented by the Ministry of Education and Social Welfare.
  • TSP was based on twin objectives of socio-economic development and protection against exploitation.
• It was generally implemented in the areas where the Scheduled Tribe population was more than 50 percent of the total population.
• PESA: The Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996 in fact, has made it mandatory for the States having scheduled areas to make specific provisions for giving wide-ranging powers to the tribes on the matters relating to decision-making and development of their community.
• Janshala Programme: The Janshala Programme is a collaborative effort of the Government of India (GOI) and five UN Agencies – UNDP, UNICEF, UNESCO, ILO, and UNFPA.
• It is a community-based primary education program, aims to make primary education more accessible and effective, especially for girls and children in deprived communities, marginalized groups, SC/ST/minorities, children with specific needs.
• Ashram Schools: The educational needs of tribal children are primarily addressed through residential schools called ashram schools.
  • There are more than 800 centrally sanctioned ashram schools spread across the country. these provide boarding and lodging facilities to children in tribal areas until they complete their secondary education.
• Eklavya Model Residential Schools: Apart from these, the government has also startedEklavya Model Residential Schools on the lines of KGBVs and NavodayaVidyalayas.