New Delhi, Aug 21 - Providing access to quality higher education opportunities across India is possible only if emphasis is laid on open education with thrust on information communication technology (ICT), experts said Friday.

A two-day symposium on 'Open Education Resources for Network Enabled Education', organised by the country's largest open university, the Indira Gandhi National Open University, concluded with a consensus among experts to push for an action plan based on National Knowledge Commission (NKC) recommendations.

Experts from the field of education and information technology, including NKC chairman Sam Pitroda, Human Resource Development (HRD) Joint Secretary N.K. Sinha, Massachusetts Institute of Technology's (MIT) S. Vijay Kumar, IGNOU vice-chancellor V. Rajashekharan Pillai and others participated in the symposium.

MIT professor Vijay Kumar and Pune University's former vice-chancellor Ashok Kaloskar highlighted important aspects of the action plan drafted at the end of the conference.

'There are two basic aspects that need to be addressed. One that higher education courses be available with easy access in any field through open educational resources (OER) for free. The other that the direct access to educational content and teachers has to be improved through ICT, which in turn, will kill red tape,' Kaloskar said.

Kaloskar added that the HRD ministry was 'eager about the prospects of open education resource models for higher education.