SWAYAM (Study Webs of Active Learning for Young Aspiring Minds) 2.0, a new version of the online education platform will offer e-degrees was launched recently by the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD). 

SWAYAM 1.0, which was launched in July 2017, aims to promote enable anytime, anywhere learning and offers certification as well. As a new version of this platform, the MHRD said that the online portal will also offer online degrees through top-ranking universities. Students can get an education degree without having to be physically present at a campus. The fee structures will be decided by the degree providers.

SWAYAM 1.0

SWAYAM 1.0, which was launched on July 9, 2017, provides equal access to quality education, increase in gross enrolment ratio in higher education from 26 to 30 in five years. It is done through a platform that facilitates hosting of all the courses, taught in classrooms from Class 9 till post-graduation to be accessed by anyone, anywhere at any time. There are more than 2,800 courses offered.

The courses are interactive, prepared by teachers and are available free of cost to any learner. More than 1,000 specially chosen faculty and teachers from across the country have participated in preparing these courses. About 12 million students have enrolled in the various programmes, and 0.5 million certificates have been handed out.

Courses are hosted in four quadrants and include video lectures, reading material that can be downloaded/printed, self-assessment tests and an online discussion forum (audio-video) for clearing the doubts. Examinations are conducted across 125 cities in India. The final exams that come at a fee and attend in-person at designated centres on specified dates.

SWAYAM 2.0

The advanced version of SWAYAM 1.0 will have additional set-ups for assessing learner performance and evaluating results. Depending on the location of the student, there will be local mentors available to guide them. Furthermore, international programmes will also be brought to the platform. 

Students will have to register on the SWAYAM portal and then select the particular course that he/she wants to enroll in to.