Guidelines for Awarding Tele-Education Scholarships to African Students

This is the text version of the PDF document. Download the original PDF (PDF, 368 KB). See also Guidelines for Afghan students.

e-VidyaBharati and e-AarogyaBharati (e-VBAB) Network Project (Online Higher Education). Government of India, Ministry of External Affairs (November 2022).

1. Introduction

Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India launched the “e-VidyaBharati and e-AarogyaBharati (e-VBAB) Network project” in October 2019 for African students, to assist them in pursuing online Undergraduate/Postgraduate/Diploma/Certificate programmes from Indian Universities/Institutes and promote India as a centre for higher studies.

The project was launched pursuant to the commitment made by Hon'ble Prime Minister of India Shri Narendra Modi at the Third India-Africa Forum Summit (IAFS-III) to offer 50,000 scholarships to African students, out of which 15,000 to be offered through Online mode.

Under the e-VBAB, financial assistance for pursuing online Undergraduate/Postgraduate/Diploma/Certificate programmes from Indian Universities/Institutes as listed in Appendix ‘B’, is provided towards tuition fee, admission fee, examination fee and other miscellaneous charges. Scholarships under the e-VBAB are paid directly to the empanelled Universities where the students get enrolled. The enrolled students pursue their programmes/courses in ONLINE mode at their own comfort, anytime, anywhere using laptop/tablet/mobile with internet connection.

2. Number of Scholarships

The e-VBAB project aims to offer 15,000 scholarships to African students to pursue various ONLINE Undergraduate/Postgraduate/Diploma/Certificate programmes from the participating Indian Universities approved by University Grants Commission (UGC).

Enrollment under the project to various Indian Universities is carried out twice a year, in 2 academic sessions- January and July respectively.

So far, in 4 academic sessions that were rolled out viz January 2020, July 2020, January 2021 and July 2022, a total of 14,390 scholarships were awarded.

3. Eligibility Criteria

3.1. Nationality

Scholarships under e-VBAB are open to students who are nationals of any of those partner African countries, as listed in Appendix ‘A’, that had so far signed MoUs for participation in the project.

3.2. Country of Residence

The applicant could be residing in any part of the world, but should have a valid National ID/ Passport of any of those partner African countries, as listed in Appendix ‘A’, that had so far signed MoUs for participation in the project.

3.3. Age

Scholarships under e-VBAB are open to applicants below the age of 50 years as on the date of commencement of enrolment for any academic session. Date of birth as mentioned in Passport/National ID issued by Government authorities of respective countries will be taken as authentic for this purpose.

3.4. Academic Qualification

Candidates must possess minimum academic qualification for pursuing a particular programme/course, as defined by respective Indian Universities/Institutes. Applicants must check the eligibility criteria/ pre-requisites for admission to a particular programme/course on respective university portal and then apply.

3.5. Empanelled Indian Universities/Institutes and Programmes/ Courses

Only Indian Universities/Institutes that are approved by University Grants Commission (UGC) to offer ONLINE UG (3 years) /PG (2 years)/Diploma (1 or 2 years) /Certificate (6 months) programmes or Institutes of Eminence, are empanelled under the project.

This is as per guidelines of UGC for recognition of Indian Universities/Institutes to offer online programmes/courses dated 4 July 2018 (refer https://www.ugc.ac.in/pdfnews/7553683_Online-Courses-or-ProgrammesRegulations_2018.pdf), and its amendment dated 4 September 2020 (refer https://www.ugc.ac.in/pdfnews/221580.pdf).

The list of empanelled Universities/Institutes under e-VBAB, where applicant can apply is available on iLearn portal and is also placed at Appendix ‘B’.

Under e-VBAB, ONLINE UG/PG/Diploma/Certificate programmes in the fields of Business Administration, Commerce, Computer Science, Arts etc., are being offered. These programmes/courses are primarily focused on improving students’ educational attainments, and better career prospects.

Applicants must follow the programme/ course catalogue provided in Tele-Education portal (www.iLearn.gov.in). Admission of candidates is strictly restricted to the Indian Universities/Institutes and programmes/courses as mentioned in Appendix ‘B’.

4. How to Apply

Applicants/Candidates from participating African countries, who fulfil the eligibility criteria can apply for scholarship under e-VBAB by registering on the iLearn portal (www.ilearn.gov.in) and subsequently applying for undergraduate/ postgraduate/ diploma/ certificate programmes offered by Indian Universities/Institutes (as above) on the respective University portals.

4.1. Registration on iLearn portal

African students seeking admission under e-VBAB are initially required to register on the iLearn portal of the e-VBAB project (www.ilearn.gov.in) by filling the following details:-

• Name: Enter the name exactly as given in National ID issued by Government of respective country.
• Mobile Number: Enter active mobile number to connect in case of any need in future.
• Email: Enter active Email for regular communication in future.
• Nationality: refer section 3.1 for details.
• Country of Residence: refer section 3.2 for details.

It may be noted that all the above fields shall be pre-filled while applying later on the respective University portal.

4.2. Submission of application form on respective University portal

On successful registration on iLearn portal (www.ilearn.gov.in), applicants need to select the University and Programme, in which he/she is interested, on the iLearn portal.

Thereafter, the applicant gets re-directed to respective University portals which are integrated with iLearn portal. Applicants needs to apply on the portal of the respective Indian University/Institute by filling the application form and uploading the mandatory documents.

The criteria/pre-requisites for admission in these Universities/Institutes may be referred to on respective University website by the applicant.

Indian Universities/educational Institutes are autonomous and independent bodies and have their own eligibility criteria. It is therefore for students to satisfy themselves about the programme/ course chosen and about the Universities.

The following documents/transcripts/certificates have to be uploaded with the application form:

• i) Valid academic records/ transcripts/ certificates, as required by respective Indian University/Institute.
• ii) Valid National ID with photograph and Date of Birth. The National ID must have validity till the last date of enrolment.
• iii) Incomplete/ineligible applications in any respect shall be liable to be rejected.
• iv) Applicant should ensure that the format of scanned documents should be in .jpeg/.jpg/.png format and size should be between 50 KB to 250 KB. Applicant should upload photograph, academic records and national ID at appropriate place in the application form in the suggested format and size.

Note: Indian Missions abroad in the particular country may ask the applicant to show the above documents in original.

Ministry of External Affairs, New Delhi shall not be responsible for any delay in submitting the Application Form.

Mere applying does not guarantee any scholarship/admission in any institution to the learners from partner African countries.

While applying, applicants may keep in mind that MEA shall approve a maximum of 700 applications only per academic session per Private Indian University/Institute, while there is no such limit for approval of applications to Government Indian University/Institute.

4.3. How to complete the application form

While the application form needs to be filled after carefully reading all the instructions on the portal of the respective Indian University/Institute, the following are the general instructions for filling the application form:

• i) The application form must be filled in ENGLISH language.
• ii) ONLY one application per candidate is allowed.
• iii) Applicants must ensure that they fulfil all the eligibility requirements for application, i.e. education, age, nationality etc. Grant of scholarship benefit is subject to verification of facts from submitted certificates/documents.
• iv)Size of the Passport size Photograph should be 50 to 250 Kb.

• v) Name: The name shall be prefilled in the application as provided at the time of registration on iLearn portal.
• vi) Gender: Please select/write as appropriate.
• vii) Date of Birth: Enter the date, month and year of your birth as recorded in the National ID.
• viii) Nationality: Select/write your appropriate citizenship option
• ix)Country of Residence: Select/write your appropriate country of residence
• x) Name of Parent/Guardian: Enter the complete name of your parent(s)
• xi)Complete Postal Address: Applicant should enter complete postal address, mobile number, email address to which all future correspondence is to be sent by Indian Universities/Institutes, Indian Mission Abroad and Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), Government of India.
• xii) Passport/National ID details: Provide details of Passport or any other National ID and enclose a copy of the same.
• xiii) Mobile Number: The mobile number shall be prefilled in the application as provided at the time of registration on iLearn portal.
• xiv) Email: The Email shall be prefilled in the application as provided at the time of registration on iLearn portal.
• xv) Declaration by applicant: Applicants must provide declaration to Indian Universities/Institutes that they are not enrolled in any other ongoing programme/ course under e-VBAB project. [Note: Students who have already obtained a degree/diploma/certificate under e-VBAB project (at the time of announcement of new academic session) and willing to avail scholarship under e-VBAB project for pursuing another degree/diploma/certificate, may apply afresh through iLearn portal to process their application]
• xvi) In case of any clarification, the applicant may contact support@ilearn.gov.in.
• xvii) Applications shall be complete in every detail to avoid rejection of the same.
• xviii) In case of documents available in local language, applicants are requested to upload certified copies of translations of these documents in English.
• xix) In order to avoid rejection from Universities/Institutes, applicants are advised to make their subject choices carefully, based on the subjects they have studied at Higher Secondary.

5. Last date of submission

Last Date for submission of Completed Application Form online shall be published on the iLearn portal (www.ilearn.gov.in). Applicants are also advised to follow social media platforms links of e-VBAB project for latest updates. Refer these links at Section ‘13’ of this document.

6. Medium of instruction and English Proficiency

Medium of instruction is English in all the empanelled Universities in India. Applicants should therefore have adequate knowledge of English to the extent that they are able to read and write in English and comprehend lessons in English language without any difficulty.

7. Shortlisting & Selection process

The applications received ONLINE will be screened by respective Indian Universities/Institutes for eligibility of admission of applicant in the applied programme/course and stream; respective Indian Missions abroad for verifying the identity of the applicant; Implementing Agency and the Project Monitoring Unit for review of deficiency, if any. Finally, MEA approves the scholarships for the applicants.

After receiving the final approval for scholarships, respective Indian Universities/Institutes shall inform the student of his/her final selection and subsequently enrol for initiation of academic life cycle. The selected candidates shall give their consent about acceptance of scholarship to the Indian University/Institute.

8. General Instruction

All decisions of MEA for awarding the scholarship to prospective applicant under e-VBAB project shall be final and binding.

In case, any information, certificate or declaration, as furnished by the applicant is found to be false or furnished wilfully to hide material fact(s), the grant of scholarship to him/her will be withdrawn forthwith and no further correspondence will be entertained on this matter, besides initiating suitable legal action against the applicant. The decision of MEA will be final in this regard.

9. Course Delivery

Upon selection, Indian Universities/Institutes shall provide credentials of Learning Management System (LMS) to selected students.

African students using those credentials log into the respective University portal and pursue their courses at their own convenience.

The online programmes/ courses under e-VBAB are offered by Universities/Institutes that are approved by University Grants Commission (UGC) to award degrees/diplomas/certificates in online mode. The online programmes/ courses offered are based on the 4 quadrant approach as prescribed by UGC to Indian Universities viz., (i) e-Tutorial containing recorded videos/audios, simulations and virtual labs, (ii) e-Content containing e-books and documents, (iii) Web Resources contains related links, content on internet and (iv) Self-Assessment containing assignments and solutions, discussion forum. The end- semester examinations are conducted using remotely proctored examination technologies i.e. Safe Exam Browser.

Universities conduct online remotely proctored examination using Safe Exam Browser.

The passed students are awarded Degree/Diploma/ Certificate online and physical copies of degrees/certificates are also sent to Indian Missions abroad, and students need to collect from Indian Missions in Africa.

10. Financial Assistance/Scholarship

10.1 The scholarship amount covers entire degree/diploma/certificate programme fee including tuition fee, e-content charges, examination fee, other charges like registration fee, re-examination and award of degree etc. The scholarship amount shall be disbursed directly to the respective Indian University/Institute where the students are enrolled.

10.2 In the First and Second Semester

The scholarship amount is paid to the Indian University/Institute semester-wise based on the invoices submitted by the Universities/Institutes. Scholarship amount for the first semester is released to the Indian Universities/Institutes upfront. Thereafter, scholarship amount for the second semester is released to the Indian Universities/Institutes at the start of the semester. However, this is subject to Universities/Institutes confirming that the student is active and has submitted at least a minimum number of assignments.

10.3 For Third and Subsequent Semesters

A definite performance criterion is being followed for continuing scholarship from third semester for the third and subsequent semesters of study which is based on the performance of students in previous semesters:

“Scholarships for odd and even semesters shall be approved only if the student passed all previous odd and even semesters respectively. If the student is unable to complete this condition, then his/ her scholarship shall be deferred until such time he/she satisfies the conditions for scholarship.”

10.4 Tenure of scholarship

It should be the endeavour of each student to complete the UG, PG, Diploma and Certificate programmes within prescribed time period of 3 years, 2 years, 1-2 years and 6 months respectively. However, any relaxation will be strictly as per UGC guidelines.

11. Disbursement of Scholarships

Admissible amount of scholarship in each Semester shall be released by Ministry to its implementation agency which shall remit amount directly to the concerned Indian University/Institute at the start of each semester.

MEA has the right to bring in changes in the scholarship policy as well as financial terms of the scholarship and implement it as and when it is decided so by MEA under intimation/dissemination to TCIL and in turn to Universities/Institutes and students, to which every e-VBAB scholar has to abide.

12. e-VBAB alumni

Student should fill up the Alumni Form available on iLearn portal (www.ilearn.gov.in) as well as on India Alumni portal (www.indiaalumni.almaconnect.com) after completing the course and before award of final degree. This will help alumni of e-VBAB to be in touch for future e-VBAB activities and will also be helpful in future for Indian Missions/Posts abroad to remain engaged with the Alumni.

13. Important Links

Prospective Applicants should follow below link of Social Media Platforms:

Facebook https://facebook.com/iLearnIndiaAfr

Twitter https://twitter.com/iLearnIndiaAfr

Instagram https://instagram.com/iLearnIndiaAfr

LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/ilearnindiaafr

Youtube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9k9lbrCC7A0KvenSq0PWLA

iLearn support@ilearn.gov.in Support

14. Contact us

Connect us for any queries related to e-VBAB project at support@ilearn.gov.in

Disclaimer: This document supersedes provisions/ guidelines issued during the previous academic sessions and is applicable for all enrolled students and prospective applicants under e-VBAB project. In case of any regulatory change and change in guidelines in awarding the scholarship shall be issued/ intimated separately from time to time on iLearn portal and social media platforms.

Appendix A: List of partner countries

The list of countries that joined the e-VBAB Project is given below.

1. Benin
2. Republic of Guinea
3. Zambia
4. Malawi
5. Ghana
6. Democratic Republic of Congo
7. Côte d’Ivoire
8. Sudan
9. Uganda
10. Mozambique
11. Mauritius
12. Sierra Leone
13. Mali
14. Eritrea
15. The Gambia
16. Seychelles
17. Somalia
18. Comoros
19. Nigeria
20. Somalia
21. Madagascar
22. South Sudan

Appendix B: Participating universities and programmes

The current list of participating universities and institutes and their programmes is published on the portal in text form. See All universities and the programme explorer.