SWAYAM, DIKSHA, SWAYAM PRABHA AND VIRTUAL LABS

SWAYAM: 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. 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. Access

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

AICTE (All India Council for Technical For self-paced and international courses
Education)
NPTEL (National Program on Technology Engineering
Enhanced Learning)
UGC (University Grants Commission) Non-technical post-graduation education
CEC (Consortium for Educational For undergraduate education
Communication)
NCERT (National Council for Educational For school education
Research Training)
NIOS (National Institute of Open Schooling)
For school education

IGNOU (Indira Gandhi National Open

 University) Out of school students

IIM B(Indian Institute of Management, Management studies

Bangalore)
NITTTR (National Institute of Technical Teacher Training Program
Teachers Training & Research)

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 other National Coordinator (NC).

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.

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 Enrolment 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.

SWAYAMPRABHA: SWAYAM Prabha is an initiative of the Ministry of Human Resources

Development to provide 34 High Quality Educational Channels through DTH (Direct to
Home) 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.
Scope of the channels

The SWAYAM PRABHA has new content every day for at least (4) hours which would be
repeated 5 more times in a day, allowing the students to choose the time of their convenience.
The channels are uplinked from BISAG, Gandhinagar. The contents are provided by NPTEL,
IITs, UGC, CEC, IGNOU, NCERT and NIOS. The INFLIBNET Centre maintains the web
portal.
The DTH Channels covers the following:
 1. Higher Education: Curriculum-based course contents at post-graduate and under-
graduate level covering diverse disciplines such as arts, science, commerce,
performing arts, social sciences and humanities, engineering, technology, law,
medicine, agriculture, etc. All courses would be certification-ready in their detailed
offering through SWAYAM, the platform being developed for offering MOOCs
courses.
2. School education (9-12 levels): modules for teacher's training as well as teaching and
learning aids for children of India to help them understand the subjects better and also
help them in preparing for competitive examinations for admissions to professional
degree programmes.
3. Curriculum-based courses that can meet the needs of life-long learners of Indian
citizens in India and abroad.
4. Assist students (class 11th & 12th) prepare for competitive exams.

Channels related to Higher Education are available at the given link:

https://www.swayamprabha.gov.in/index.php/higheredu

DIKSHA: DIKSHA stands for Digital Infrastructure for Knowledge Sharing. It is a National
Teacher Platform which is currently being used by teachers and students across the nation to
provide school education through distance mode.

Amidst the disruption of schooling due to COVID-19, DIKSHA makes it possible for all
states and Union Territories to enable learning and education at home through innovative
state programs. DIKSHA is leapfrogging the use of technology for the benefit of teachers and
learners across India.

Latest on Digital Infrastructure for Knowledge Sharing – DIKSHA Platform

 In February 2021, the Indian government’s EdTech app DIKSHA hit 10 million
installs. DIKSHA is 100% free to use and owned and operated by the Ministry of
Education (MoE).
Digital Infrastructure for Knowledge Sharing – DIKSHA Overview

1. DIKSHA is a national platform for school education launched on September 5th,

2017

2. It is an initiative in the domain of digital learning by the National Council for

Education Research and Training (NCERT) and the Ministry of Human Resource
Development – MHRD

3. It was developed based on the core principles of open architecture, open access, open
licensing diversity, choice and autonomy as outlined in the Strategy and Approach
Paper for the National Teacher Platform.

4. National Teacher Platform has been branded as DIKSHA. The motto of DIKSHA is
‘our teachers are our heroes’.

5. DIKSHA – National Teachers Platform is built to host Open Educational Resources

(OER) and tools for teachers in schools, teacher educators in Teacher Education
Institutes (TEIs) and student teachers in TEIs.

6. The aim of this initiative is to help teachers and the students to continue their studies
as usual and ensure holistic learning for both.

7. NTP is a minimal and generalised technology platform built using Open Standards
and Application Program Interfaces (APIs) and will host Open Educational Resources
(OER). It will also have tools and interfaces for the creation and consumption of
teaching and learning content. As a shared infrastructure the platform will avoid
duplication of effort and save costs.

8. It will cater to the needs of teachers including the development of attitude, skill and
knowledge. The platform will continuously develop and evolve in an iterative manner
based on user needs and stakeholder feedback.

9. NTP will cater to teachers from all stages of school education including pre-primary,
primary, upper primary, secondary and senior secondary.

10. DIKSHA is available for the use of all states and UTs of India. Currently, it supports
18+ languages and the various curriculum of NCERT, CBSE and SCERTs across
India.
DIKSHA e-learning Portal Benefits

For Teachers – 

1. DIKSHA will serve as National Digital Infrastructure for Teachers. All teachers
across the nation will be equipped with advanced digital technology.

2. It is built considering the whole teacher’s life cycle – from the time student teachers
enrol in Teacher Education Institutes (TEIs) to after they retire as teachers.

3. The DIKSH e-learning portal enables the teachers to understand their career span.
From the time they join the school to their retirement, they can map out their career
progression and can work on their skills accordingly.

4. It will aid teachers to learn and train themselves for which assessment resources will
be available. It will help teachers to create training content, profile, in-class resources,
assessment aids, news and announcements and connect with the teacher community.

For Students – 

1. There will be direct interaction between teachers and students. 

2. Students will be able to understand concepts in an easy and interactive manner.

3. The app or e-learning portal of DIKSHA also facilitates the students to do quick
revisions and test his/her learning through self-assessment practice exercises.

For Parents-

1. Parents can follow classroom activities and can clear their doubts outside school hours
through one to one session with the teachers. It is a comprehensive platform for
hassle-free interaction of all the stakeholders involved.

VIRTUAL LABS: Virtual Labs project is an initiative of Ministry of Human Resource

Development (MHRD), Government of India under the aegis of National Mission on
Education through Information and Communication Technology (NMEICT). This project is a
consortium activity of twelve participating institutes and IIT Delhi is coordinating institute. It
is a paradigm shift in ICT-based education. For the first time, such an initiative has been
taken-up in remote‐experimentation. Under Virtual Labs project, over 100 Virtual Labs
consisting of approximately 700+ web-enabled experiments were designed for remote-
operation and viewing. The intended beneficiaries of the projects are:

 All students and Faculty Members of Science and Engineering Colleges who do not
have access to good lab‐facilities and/or instruments.
 High‐school students, whose inquisitiveness will be triggered, possibly motivating
them to take up higher‐studies. Researchers in different institutes who can collaborate
and share resources.
 Different engineering colleges who can benefit from the content and related teaching
resources.

Virtual Labs do not require any additional infrastructural setup for conducting
experiments at user premises. The simulations-based experiments can be accessed
remotely via internet.