Now that the pandemic is over, students increasingly want to come together and study at a physical campus. Not necessarily every day, but studies show they wish to learn only partially online. However, many higher education institutes have already developed deep expertise in online education, especially since the pandemic, as they foresee that the future of education will be about the best of both worlds.

The future of education in India will be around using technology to enhance the learning experience and outcome, not just as a temporary solution during a crisis.

This new hybrid approach to education offers many benefits, including increased access to education, improved quality, and more equitable opportunities. It’s no wonder higher education providers in the country are vying for a piece of the online education market from local and national universities to emerging online education giants and newer non-degree providers. The dire nature of the competition suggests that online education providers may be compelled to go beyond incremental improvements and initiate significant, bold strategies to survive, grow, and thrive.

The downside to remote learning includes the hands-on learning experience in science, physical education, and even sports. Japan manifests a great example of dealing with this new dilemma by setting up pioneering guidelines for online university classes. The Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology Ministry’s guidelines present measures to deal with such challenges while proposing new ways to utilize online classes. For example, the guidelines recommend the proactive use of the metaverse. We delve deeper into the educational scenario in the country through this yearly special issue.