- A panel of experts has recommended upgrading Union human resource development(HRD) ministry’s free e-learning Swayam platform to a virtual university to meet growing demand for quality education.
- The proposal is part of the ministry’s five-year vision plan called Education Quality Upgradation and Inclusion Programme(EQUIP).
- The panel has also proposed reconstituting Swayam into a separate autonomous board driven organisation under the HRD Ministry.
- Further,the panel’s recommendations have come as the HRD ministry is preparing the next phase of Swayam.A degree-granting mechanism could be one of its ingredients.
- SWAYAM (Study Webs of Active–Learning for Young Aspiring Minds) is a programme initiated by the Government of India and designed to achieve the three cardinal principles of Education Policy namely access, equity and quality.
- The objective of this effort is to take the best teaching learning resources to all including the most disadvantaged.SWAYAM seeks to bridge the digital divide for students who have remained untouched by the digital revolution and have not been able to join the mainstream of the knowledge economy.
- This is done through an indigenous developed IT platform that facilitates hosting of all the courses taught in classrooms to be accessed by anyone,anywhere at any time.
