SWAYAM Scheme - Study Webs of Active Learning for Young Aspiring Minds

SWAYAM Scheme, which means “self” in Sanskrit, is the acronym for “Study Webs of Active Learning for Young Aspiring Minds” is an Indian Massive Open Online Course (MOOC). The Government of India has initiated and designed this scheme which aims to make learning available to all.

The scheme is designed to achieve three primary principles of Education Policy that is access, quality, and equity. The Ministry of Human Resources Development (MHRD) and NPTEL, IIT Madras, with the help of Google Inc and Persistent Systems Ltd, has developed this scheme.

Objective of SWAYAM

• To take learning resources from the best available to all, including the highly deprived.
• To bridge the digital divide for students who have not yet experienced the digital revolution and are unable to join the mainstream of the knowledge economy.

Features of SWAYAM Scheme

• Courses that are offered in the classroom from 9th class till post-graduation.
• The courses hosted are divided into four quadrants:
  • Video lecture
  • Specially devised reading material that can be downloaded/ printed
  • Self-assessment tests 
  • Online discussion form for clearing doubts
• Course categories include – Engineering, Science, Management, Humanities, Language, Mathematics, Commerce, Arts, and Recreation, General, Library, Education.
• The courses offered are free of cost to the learners.
• Learners who require certification will have to register and pay a fee to obtain the same.
• At the end of each course, there will be an assessment of the student through supervised examination. The marks/grades obtained in this assessment can be transferred to the academic records of the students. The University Grants Commission (UGC) has already issued the UGC (Credit Framework for online learning courses through SWAYAM) Regulation 2016 advising Universities to identify the courses where credits can be transferred on the academic record of the students who have pursued courses through SWAYAM scheme.

National Coordinators of SWAYAM

• All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) – Annual Refresher Programme in Teaching for faculty of Engineering or University or Institutions.
• National Programme on Technology Enhanced Learning (NPTEL) – For Engineering.
• University Grants Commission (UGC)- for post-graduation education.
• Consortium for Educational Communication (CEC)- for under-graduate education.
• National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT)- for school education.
• National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS)- for school education.
• Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) – for out of school students.
• Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore (IIMB) – for management students.
• National Institute of Technical Teachers Training and Research (NITTTR) – for the teacher training program.

The SWAYAM online platform is capable of hosting 2000 courses and 80,000 hours of learning covering school, under-graduate, post-graduate, engineering, law, and other professional courses.