Working professionals to participate in online course platform SWAYAM Plus, says Pradhan

New Delhi [India], February 27 : Union Minister of Education and Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, Dharmendra Pradhan, launched the SWAYAM Plus Platform on Tuesday in New Delhi.
Dharmendra Pradhan while addressing the audience said that with the implementation of NEP2020, an entire new generation has to be prepared. He expressed his gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for envisioning the roadmap for the coming 25 years.
He also emphasized how female enrolment in STEM education in India has become the highest in the world.
Working professionals will participate in the SWAYAM platform using it as a vehicle and take advantage of the multiple-entry-multiple-exit policy of National Education Policy 2020, he added.
He also said that the platform will widen the scope of the classroom, adding 43 million students of higher education and working professionals.
Pradhan said that futuristic courses such as semiconductors and artificial intelligence are needed for the industry. Applied education with SWAYAM Plus, employability, entrepreneurship, job-centric and hands-on training is a move in that direction, he said.
Courses are to be in local languages to empower every student to realize the dream of Viksit Bharat, as innovation has no language, Pradhan said. Going beyond STEM education, courses involving music, painting, creative arts, humanities, and liberal arts, are to be part of the Platform to bring about all-round development in our youth, he stressed.
K Sanjay Murthy in his address urged for greater participation from the industry leaders and also subject matter experts from Universities and Institutions to contribute courses on separate verticals, which will be certified by IIT Madras.
There will be a multitude of institutional mechanisms, which will examine such types of proposals to ensure need-based and timely responses, he added.
Murthy also informed that content will be available in 12 major Indian languages of the country.
SWAYAM, the Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) platform providing educational opportunities for a vast number of learners, was launched by the Ministry of Education in 2017.
In alignment with NEP 2020, the SWAYAM Plus platform will now include courses supporting industry needs that enhance learners' employability. Developed in collaboration with industry giants like Larsen and Toubro, Microsoft, CISCO, and more, SWAYAM Plus features innovative elements such as multilingual content, AI-enabled guidance, credit recognition, and pathways to employment.
SWAYAM Plus primarily focuses on achieving the Building an ecosystem for all stakeholders in professional and career development, including learners, course providers, industry, academia, and strategic partners; Enabling a mechanism that provides credit recognition for high-quality certifications and courses offered by the best industry and academia partners; Reaching a large learner base by catering to learning across the country, with a focus on reaching learners from tier 2 and 3 towns and rural areas and Offering employment focused courses, based on learner needs across chosen disciplines with options to learn through resources in vernacular languages.
SWAYAM Plus also envisions bringing in features such as access to mentorship, scholarships, and job placements as value-added services in due course of time, thus building a digital ecosystem for learners to pursue upskilling/re-skilling at all levels, namely certificate, diploma or degree.
This event is a testament to the collective resolve to nurture a digitally empowered society, underpinned by education that is accessible, equitable, and aligned with the demands of the future.