Education Minister Launches SWAYAM Plus Platform for Learning

On February 27, Union Minister of Education, Skill Development, and Entrepreneurship Dharmendra Pradhan introduced the 'SWAYAM Plus' portal, which would offer courses designed in collaboration with the industry. Industry partners like L&T, Microsoft, and CISCO collaborated to create employability and professional development programmes.

The Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras) will run the 'SWAYAM Plus’ platform. IIT Madras was also one of the founding universities for Swayam-NPTEL and the Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) platform. Swayam-NPTEL and MOOCs offer educational chances to learners. SWAYAM now has the highest enrollment base, with total enrollment expected to increase from 31 lakh in 2017 to more than 72 lakh by the end of 2023, according to an IIT Madras release.

The launch of SWAYAM Plus aims to improve the employability of both college students and lifetime learners. The relationship between industry and academics would combine SWAYAM's educational platform's academic rigour with industry partners' real-world skills and relevance. 

The SWAYAM Plus platform will include programs in manufacturing, energy, computer science and engineering, IT or ITES, management studies, healthcare, hospitality, and tourism, in addition to Indian knowledge systems.

Launching the ‘SWAYAM Plus’portal, Pradhan said, “The National Education Policy (NEP) is on a roll and for the first time, reputed industrial houses will be coming with their academy, partnering with the UGC, esteemed education departments, and prestigious institutes like IIT Madras. All these courses will be accredited.”

According to the institute, these courses will provide students with theoretical knowledge and the skills, practices, and latest trends demanded by the job market, bridging the gap between academia and industry and making college graduates more job-ready and competitive.

The SWAYAM Plus platform includes multilingual content, an AI-enabled chatbot to assist students and credit recognition.