Daijiworld Media Network – Mangalore (NR)  

Mangalore, Mar 1: In order to benefit students of fisheries, plans to start new online courses are afoot on a big scale. According to this plan, around 56 courses in fisheries and a few courses in horticulture and veterinary sciences will be unveiled online in the next three years.  

This venture has been embarked upon by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), which is currently on an e-education drive. With this end in view it has requested colleges of fisheries in the city and Thoothukudi (Tuticorin) to collaborate in developing online courses in fisheries. 

Moreover it has urged the University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore (UASB), to develop courses in horticulture on the same lines. Similarly the Veterinary College of Tamil Nadu, in Chennai will develop the veterinary science courses.  

The main task of creating and developing necessary content for the online courses will be done by the staff, informed Y Basavaraju, dean, College of Fisheries here. Towards this end, the ICAR has sanctioned a sum of Rs 2.25 crore, which will be equally divided between the College of Fisheries here and the institution in Tamil Nadu.  

Also, according to the dean Basavaraju, teachers in the institutions will be given appropriate training to prepare the content for e-courses. Once the course content is completed, it will be reviewed by a high-level committee before its final approval. The content will consist of video clips, amongst others, aimed at enhancing students understanding of various topics, he added.  

Once students enroll for the online courses of their choice, they will be provided a password. With this they can have access to the course material and will be at ease studying the course contents from the confines of their home or office. But only students of fisheries colleges, veterinary science and horticulture will be allowed to access the content free of cost, he informed.