Indian Telecoms and IT Minister, Ravi Shankar Prasad, has tasked the National Informatics Centre (NIC) with developing a blockchain-based solution for improving the quality of government schools.
It has been recently reported that the Minister made the request at the inauguration of a blockchain technology Center of Excellence, set up by NIC in Bengaluru.
Plans to develop a ‘proof of concept’ model on implementing blockchain-as-a-service have begun, as Prasad reinforced that it was necessary that the "blockchain revolution" started at the root level and be implemented in primary education in government as well as private schools.
Prasad said:
The NIC and local state authorities should open their doors for startups working under defined norms. I am very keen how we can leverage blockchain in primary education. In fact today I am going to give you a task, NIC team. Can you think of a good application of blockchain technology for improving the quality of government schools all over the country?”
He also said:
India, being the sixth-largest economy in the world is a home to more than 25,000 startups. Within this, almost 10,000 of them belong to technology. With the help of NIC, the central government and the state government will open doors to this new technology.
Although Indian education department's enthusiasm for blockchain is clear, cryptocurrency is still frowned upon with the Indian Supreme Court is currently hearing evidence as to why the Reserve Bank of India enforced a nationwide banking ban on the cryptocurrency market.
Nonetheless, an implementation of blockchain technology within the education system is a use-case that is definitely in its developmental stage is something that could make big changes in the future.