T’puram: The fifth All India Open University Vice-Chancellors’ Round Table Conference, hosted by Sree Narayana Guru Open University, unanimously approved seven key initiatives to elevate the network of open universities in the country to world-class standards.The conference, which concluded on Wednesday, resolved to reorganise the Indian Association of Public Open Universities into an official national consortium. As an initial step, special divisions will be formed within 90 days in six priority areas: credit mobility, digital innovation, quality assurance, skill development, research and policy coordination. The conference also decided to establish clear criteria and transparent dashboards within six months to evaluate their activities. It decided to implement a ‘Harmonised Model Credit Transfer Framework’ to enable students to continue their studies seamlessly across different universities. Within one year, this will be fully integrated with Academic Bank of Credits, ensuring digital services and grievance redressal systems through the National Open University Credit Portal. Another focus is the integration of digital technology. Through the ‘Digital Interoperability Blueprint,’ to be prepared within three months, systems like artificial intelligence and blockchain-based certificate verification will be made available in all universities. This will help reduce the cost of digital infrastructure up to 30%. To enhance academic collaboration, the conference decided to form national academic clusters in five areas, including artificial intelligence, sustainable development and public health. This would allow universities to jointly launch courses and share study materials. A national digital repository will also be set up to avoid duplication of study materials, the organisers of the event said on Thursday. Teacher empowerment and research are other themes. An inter-university faculty exchange scheme will be initiated, and 500 teachers will be trained in digital pedagogy annually. To promote research, an ‘Open University Research & Innovation Summit’ will be organised every two years.
