SWAYAM - Features, National Co-ordinators

SWAYAM stands for Study Webs of Active Learning for Young Aspiring Minds. This is a program under the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD). Former President Shri Pranab Mukherjee launched SWAYAM and SWAYAM Prabha. There are 32 Direct To Home (DTH) channels operationalised for telecasting education content free of charge.

Aspirants would find this article very helpful while preparing for the IAS Exam.

What is SWAYAM?

SWAYAM is a free online education program started by the Government of India. SWAYAM is a Government of India’s own Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) platform, which has been offering online courses in disciplines such as Science, Engineering and Technology, Humanities and Social Sciences, Law, Management etc.

Latest context of SWAYAM program –

The study material on the central government’s e-learning platform, Study Webs of Active Learning for Young Aspiring Minds (SWAYAM), is being translated into eight regional Indian languages, These eight languages–Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Tamil, and Telugu.

The Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) platform has 521 courses translated into vernacular languages. The maximum number of courses (130) has been translated in Hindi, followed by Tamil with 94 courses and Gujarati with 57 courses.

What was the need for starting SWAYAM?

It was started to achieve 3 important principles of education policy

1. Acess
2. Equity
3. Quality

Are courses free?

Yes, the SWAYAM course is free of cost. Fees are only levied if the learner requires a certificate.

How is the SWAYAM program conducted?

1. It is conducted through a platform that facilitates the hosting of all courses.
2. Courses included are from Class 9 till post-graduation.
3. Courses can be accessed by anyone, anywhere at any time.
4. More than 1,000 specially chosen faculty and teachers were part of preparing these courses.

What are the main features of SWAYAM program?

1. Video lecture
2. Specially prepared reading material that can be downloaded/printed.
3. Self-assessment through quizzes and tests.
4. There is an online discussion forum for clearing doubts.

SWAYAM – 9 National Co-ordinators

There are 9 National Coordinators for various courses and levels of education.

Below table gives details on 9 National Coordinators

All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE)

AICTE was appointed as the 9th National MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) Coordinator in 2017. AICTE will handle all the courses that do not fall under the purview of any othe National Coordinator (NC).

Know in detail about the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) on the linked page.

National Program on Technology Enhanced Learning (NPTEL)

NPTEL is a project of the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) under the umbrella of 7 Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT’s) and Indian Institute of Science (IISc).

1. IIT Bombay
2. IIT Delhi
3. IIT Kanpur
4. IIT Kharagpur
5. IIT Madras
6. IIT Guwahati
7. IIT Roorkee

NPTEL Features

1. It has the largest repository of courses in Engineering, Basic Sciences, Humanities and Social Science subjects.
2. NPTEL youtube channel is the most subscribed educational channel
3. NPTEL has more than 54000 + hours of video content, transcribed with subtitles.

University Grants Commission (UGC)

1. It was established in 1956, through an Act of Parliament.
2. The objective was to maintain the standards of university education in India.
3. Headquarters in New Delhi; regional centres in Pune, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Bhopal, Guwahati and Bangalore.

Aspirants can go through other important schemes for the welfare of the society initiated by the government –

For more such relevant Government Schemes candidates need to visit the page link provided here.

Consortium for Educational Communication (CEC)

1. Needs of higher education are addressed through powerful media like Television along with other Information and Communication Technology (ICT).
2. CEC is the National Coordinator for Undergraduate MOOC and 11 SWAYAM Prabha DTH channels.

CEC has developed around 322 Undergraduate MOOC’s covering the following disciplines.

1. Arts
2. Literature
3. Language
4. Social Sciences
5. Natural & Applied Sciences
6. Management

National Council for Educational Research Training (NCERT)

1. The main objective is to improve school education in India.

National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS)

1. Trained more than 13 lakhs, untrained in-service elementary teachers, through SWAYAM platform
2. Operates through a network of 5 departments, 22 regional centres.
3. NIOS offers 42 courses on SWAYAM platform.

Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU)

1. Established by an Act of Parliament in 1985.
2. Tried to increase the Gross Enrollment Ratio (GER) by offering high-quality teaching through Open and Distance Learning (ODL) mode.
3. It has a network of 67 regional centres.

Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore (IIM Bangalore)

1. 1st Management College in India to offer Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC’s) on the edX platform.
2. It is the coordinating institute for management education for SWAYAM.

National Institute of Technical Teachers Training and Research (NITTTR)

1. NITTTR was established in Chennai in 1964.
2. The objective is to improve the quality of Engineering Education system in India
3. NITTTR Chennai also serves as one of the National Coordinator (NC) for SWAYAM for the teacher training program.

SWAYAM – UPSC Notes:- Download PDF Here

The above details would help candidates prepare for UPSC 2021 exams.

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