The Resilient Agricultural Education System (RAES)
Stimulated by the guidelines of India’s National Education Policy 2020, National Agricultural Higher Education Project (NAHEP), and Digital India,
the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) along with the World Bank have fostered the Resilient Agricultural Education System (RAES)
development initiative.
The RAES takes a three-component approach towards improving the systemic resilience of the Indian higher
education system to improve student learning outcomes by way of strengthening “skill-based education” while minimizing learning discontinuity.
The first component aims to strengthen the existing Digital Infrastructure in Indian Agricultural Universities while introducing an online learning
platform. The second component is the development of a Digital Content Repository comprising curated or created self-learning instructional material
in various formats. The third component is a system-wide Digital Capacity Building Program that entails generalized as well as differential learning
courses, allowing end users to improve their digital competence, knowledge, and skills.
The Resilient Agricultural Education System (RAES) aims to provide the following:
- Uninterrupted access to quality education and research for all stakeholders
- Help develop student capacity for enhanced employability outcomes aligned to marketdemand
- Proliferate industry-academia partnerships to drive outcomes
The pivotal idea underlying the RAES development initiative is to provide uninterrupted access to
teaching-learning thereby minimizing losses in learning. This implies the enablement of an agricultural higher education system that hosts the
capability to operate seamlessly across multiple situations and contexts. This would primarily entail:
- Leveraging the positive power of technology and digital to facilitate blended and flipped learning scenarios.
- Strengthening collaborative partnerships with industry and government partners to embed a more “market-driven” teaching-learning
culture.