SWAYAM: Enhancing The Education Model of New India

Education or knowledge is what separates us humans from animals. The ability to pass on the knowledge accumulated by the older generations to the newer and younger generations which is what essentially ensures humanity’s survival. Nowadays we see a lot of “influencers” claim that formal education is not important or that degree oriented skill enhancement is worthless. They espouse commercial interests and claim education or learning to have no connection with being “successful”. We must understand that the formal education or the idea thereof is not to blame. What must be changed is the current system of education controlled by commercial interests. We must shift the education system back to the Indic way of life which made access to education easy and open for all. I feel that education is the most important aspect of one’s personality and that no one can grow up to be a successful contributing member of the society unless and until one makes himself/herself capable. Especially now with the advent of shifting things from offline to the online mode, it presents a unique opportunity to open the doors of attaining education and skill enhancement to each and every citizen of Bharat.

The present government at the centre has done exactly that by riding the rising tide of digital learning that has reached India. ‘Study Webs of Active Learning for Young Aspiring Minds’ (SWAYAM) is an initiative by the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD), spearheaded by the Modi Government to provide an integral teaching/learning platform in an online mode. SWAYAM is web and mobile based interactive open interface where courses are available from high school to university level and skill development purposes. SWAYAM involves development of MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) formats which make use of relevant learning tools and resources of different forms and factors. Courses delivered through SWAYAM are available free of cost to the learners, however learners wanting a SWAYAM certificate should register for the final proctored exams that come at a fee and attend in-person at designated centres on specified dates. Eligibility for the certificate will be announced on the course page and learners will get certificates only if this criteria is matched. Universities/colleges approving credit transfer for these courses can use the marks/certificate obtained in these courses for the same.

The Modi government has tried to bring the same oneness and equality of access to education for the masses through the medium of SWAYAM. SWAYAM MOOCs are the digital learning initiatives by which the BJP led government at the centre is becoming a game changer in revolutionizing education at both national and international levels. This is to emphasise here that the New Education Policy has given huge weightage on MOOCs and the solution for all the red-tapism/ignorance of the importance that must be afforded to the educational sector which plagued the society due to political leaderships of the erstwhile governments pre-2014. SWAYAM Courses not only refer to ease of content delivery but also include other aspects such as lectures, forums, peer-to-peer interactions, quizzes, exams, transfer of credits and credentials associated with courses.

SWAYAM is a new era in ODL mode of education. The SWAYAM website affords an in-depth view regarding the information, eligibility criteria, and the credit system. The success of SWAYAM is dependent on the government, national agencies like UGC, NPTEL, IGNOU, CBSE, NCERT, NIOS, and the topmost institutions in the country. Governments, coordinators, institutions have to take more initiative to spread the benefit of the SWAYAM in every section of the society. Active participation of the whole society in this programme will meet the goal of education for all.

The number of courses offered on the online platform has more than doubled since 2017. There were 323 courses available in July 2017, which grew to 2150 in October 2021. Over 2.6 lakh students enrolled in three courses in July 2020, for the courses like Machine Learning, Data Science, Programming, Data Structures and Algorithms using Python and Programming each seeing enrolment of over 40,000 during the semester. An average of 27.4 lakh learners have joined during every semester since 2019 to study in the courses offered by the institutions like IITs, Indian Institute of science, Banaras Hindu University and IIMs. To say the least we can say that the government led endeavour has borne fruits which are being enjoyed by the citizens of this great nation. The rising tide of digital learning has reached India. SWAYAM MOOCs are the digital learning initiatives by Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India and becoming the game changer in revolutionizing the education at both national and international levels (Semalty A.,2019). This is to emphasize here that the proposed New Education Policy has given huge weightage on MOOCs and OERs. MHRD and all the national time, resources and money for the success of SWAYAM MOOCs as the BRAHMASTRA of digital learning in India The rising tide of digital learning has reached India. SWAYAM MOOCs are the digital learning initiatives by Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India and becoming the game changer in revolutionizing the education at both national and international levels (Semalty A., 2019).

SWAYAM is designed to achieve the three cardinal principles of Education Policy viz., access, equity and quality. The objective of this effort is to take the best teaching learning resources to all, including the most disadvantaged. SWAYAM seeks to bridge the digital divide for students who have hitherto remained untouched by the digital revolution and have not been able to join the mainstream of the knowledge economy. It is important to underline the fact that the government’s efforts at reducing the gap between the haves and have-nots regarding this most crucial social indicator needs appropriate appreciation as education is the base on which the infrastructure of tomorrow shall stand strong.