Content Policy on DIKSHA

Principles and Policy for Content management on DIKSHA

  1. Introduction

This document highlights the framework for content that will be followed on DIKSHA. DIKSHA Strategy and Approach Paper clearly articulates one of the intentions of DIKSHA - to create a common repository of open education resources for easy access to teachers across the country. This document sets out the principles and process to achieve this end. DIKSHA should make multilingual and diverse content available on the platform ranging from courses for in-service and pre-service teachers to classroom resources to tools for assessment and evaluation both of teachers and learners.

The content creation and curation process on DIKSHA is envisaged to be an open process with low barriers to entry. It celebrates and encourages participation by making it simple to create and share content on the platform. High-quality content is celebrated in the form of recognition from the community (in the form of ‘badges’ and ‘likes’). It avoids creating barriers to entry in the form of centralized review workflows and federates that process to the community to police itself. NCTE and States, being the custodians of DIKSHA, frame the guidelines and curation rules, and delegate the authority to curate to the community. This creates a platform that is open, has low barrier to entry, while the quality of content is ensured by the federated process.

  1. Principles for Content on DIKSHA

Content on the DIKSHA will be contributed by various content contributors across the country. The intent is to enable access to a wide range and diverse content from across the country so as to enable better contextualisation of content and wide access for end users. All content published on DIKSHA belongs to the creators of content be it individuals or organisations that have made content available on the platform, they are responsible for ensuring accuracy and appropriateness of content.

Content on DIKSHA means and includes courses for teachers (in-service and pre-service), lesson plans, worksheets, supplemental materials for classroom and other such learning materials, etc. Content Contributor means and includes organisations and/ or individuals. Individuals wishing to contribute to DIKSHA could be:

  • Pre-Service teachers

  • In-Service Teachers

  • Post-Service Teachers

  • Subject Matter Experts

  • Teacher Educators

  • Freelancers

Organisational content partners include but are not limited to the following:

  • Teacher Education Institutes

  • State bodies (such as SCERT, DIET, etc.)

  • Central Educational Bodies (such as NCTE, CBSE, KV, ICSE, etc.)

  • National Project Management Unit

  • Independent Content Producers (including private organisations)

DIKSHA is not responsible for the accuracy, appropriateness and violations of any third party rights including intellectual property rights of anyone. In general content on the DIKSHA shall follow the following policy:

  • Licence: Content on DIKSHA will be licensed under CC-BY, CC-BY- SA and CC-BY- NC licenses, which allow content to be replicated/edited (for translation into other languages, adding subtitles) or used in commercial settings (such as tuition centers), as long as they are attributed to the original creator.

  • Content Contribution: Content can be published on DIKSHA only by authenticated individuals or organizations which are given the status of ‘content contributor’. This authentication may happen at central level or state level. Model guidelines will be created for authentication.

  • Third Party Rights: Any violations of copyright laws will be the responsibility of the concerned content contributor. Any disputes will be settled by the respective parties. DIKSHA bears no responsibility for this.

  • Accuracy and Appropriateness: Content contributors are responsible for accuracy and appropriateness of content. Post-publishing, accuracy and appropriateness will be checked by designated teams at NCERT, other central bodies or states, who can report any violations. In case of such a report, the content piece will be pulled down immediately and the contributor will be notified.

  1. Content Publishing

All content uploaded or created on DIKSHA shall be published by the Organisation/Individuals/ Entities who are registered as Content Contributors on DIKSHA. Organisations and Institutions that have been identified as content contributors on DIKSHA will be responsible for ensuring that content they publish is accurate and appropriate for their purposes, as outlined by the following guidelines. Content identified as inappropriate or inaccurate as per these guidelines will not be allowed on the platform.

Appropriateness Guidelines Hate Content, Defamation, and Libel: Hate speech and other objectionable content that is unlawful, defamatory, and fraudulent. Note that an allegation of defamatory expression, in and of itself, does not establish defamation. The truth or falsehood of a bit of expression is a key element in establishing defamation, and we are not in a position to make that sort of fact-based judgment. That said, if the screening committee have reason to believe that a particular statement is defamatory (a court order, for example), it will remove that content.

  • Sexually Explicit Material: Posting sexually explicit or pornographic material, or links to it, will be suspended.
  • Profanity: Content published in the platform should not be offensive and should not the hurt the sentiments of a certain group of people.
  • Respectful: Contest published on the National Teacher Platform should be respectful and created keeping in mind the dignity of the teachers

Accuracy Guidelines License: Content published on the National Teacher Platform will be available in public domain under the specified Creative Common Licenses. The content contributor must ensure correct attribution and compliance of license terms and third party Intellectual property rights.

  • Accuracy: Content present must be factually correct.
  • Language: Language used in text, audio, video must be simple and easy to understand.
  • Contextual: Content should be contextual and relevant to the needs of intended users.

DISCLAIMER: Though all efforts have been made to ensure the accuracy and currency of the content on this Platform, the same should not be construed as a statement of law or used for any legal purposes. In no event will the Government of India or NCTE be liable for any expense, loss or damage including, without limitation, indirect or consequential loss or damage, or any expense, loss or damage whatsoever arising from use, or loss of use, of data, arising out of or in connection with the use of this Platform. Links to other websites that have been included on this platform are provided for public convenience only.