ICAR, World Bank international meet calls for Blended Learning Ecosystem in Agriculture

The International Conference on Blended Learning Ecosystem for Higher Education in Agriculture 2023, hosted jointly by The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and the World Bank from March 21-23 as a part of the National Agricultural Higher Education Project’s (NAHEP) Resilient Agricultural Education System (RAES) development initiative has more than ten academic partners from around the world representing over ten countries deliberating  on the best strategies in blended teaching and learning in agricultural education. 

A Blended Learning Platform focused on improving Digital Infrastructure across Agricultural Higher Education Institutions (A-HEIs) was unveiled by ICAR and World Bank to strengthen deployment of immersive technologies such as Augmented Reality (AR)/Virtual Reality (VR) Experiences and Virtual Classrooms.

National Agricultural Education

Undertaken to strengthen the National Agricultural Education System in the country, NAHEP is a five-year project initiated in 2018 with equal contribution of $82.5 million (about Rs 600 crore) each from the World Bank and the central government. 

The World Bank loan is to be repaid over 19 years after a grace period of five years, The purpose of NAHEP is to transform agricultural higher education. The Blended Learning Platform is part of the project. Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Shri Narendra Singh Tomar was the chief guest.  Dr Himanshu Pathak, Secretary Department of Agriculture Research and Education (DARE) and Director General ICAR and Dr RC Agrawal, Deputy Director General (Agricultural Education) of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) spoke.