SWAYAM and SWAYAM Prabha | 21 Apr 2020

Why in News

Recently, the Union Minister for Human Resource Development held a detailed review of the National online education platform SWAYAM and the 32 Direct-to-Home (DTH) Television Education Channels SWAYAM Prabha.

Key Points

  • Translation to Regional Language: All the SWAYAM Courses and SWAYAM Prabha videos to be translated to ten regional languages in a time-bound manner.
  • Acceptance of SWAYAM Credits: It has also been decided that University Grants Commission (UGC) and All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) will follow up with Universities and institutions to accept SWAYAM credits.
    • This will enable students to do part of their course through Massive open online courses (MOOC) and part in various colleges.
  • Incentives to Faculties: To encourage faculty to provide more courses under SWAYAM, it has been decided to provide appropriate incentives for their career.

SWAYAM

  • Study Webs of Active Learning for Young Aspiring Minds (SWAYAM), was launched on July 9, 2017 by the Ministry of Human Resource Development to provide one integrated platform and portal for online courses.
  • This covers all higher education subjects and skill sector courses.
  • The objective is to ensure that every student in the country has access to the best quality higher education at the affordable cost.
  • Academicians from hundreds of institutions throughout the country are involved in developing & delivering Massive open online courses (MOOCs) through SWAYAM in almost all disciplines from senior schooling to Post Graduation.

SWAYAM Prabha

  • It is an initiative of the Ministry of Human Resources Development to provide 32 High Quality Educational Channels through DTH across the length and breadth of the country on 24X7 basis.
  • It has curriculum-based course content covering diverse disciplines.
  • This is primarily aimed at making quality learning resources accessible to remote areas where internet availability is still a challenge.
  • The DTH channels are using the GSAT-15 satellite for programme telecasts.

University Grants Commission

  • It came into existence on 28th December, 1953 and became a statutory body by an Act of Parliament in 1956, for the coordination, determination and maintenance of standards of teaching, examination and research in university education.
  • The head office of the UGC is located in New Delhi.

Source: PIB