Policy Update
Anisha Neogi
Background
SWAYAM (Study Webs of Active-Learning for Young Aspiring Minds), is India’s flagship program aimed at increasing access to education using Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) launched by the Ministry of Education on 9th July, 2017. Inspired by the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, SWAYAM aims to level up the field for learners from varied socio-economic backgrounds, geographic locations, and languages. The fundamental objective of the platform is to provide free online courses from undergraduate to postgraduate level developed and taught by prominent institutions like IITs, IIMs, NITs, and IGNOU.
The impetus for SWAYAM came from a twin imperative: to use digital technology in reaching masses for education at a moment of accelerating change in technology, and to address deep-seated inequities in access to education, particularly in rural and disadvantaged regions. With its interactive video lectures, reading content, discussion forums, and self-testing modules (the four Quadrants), SWAYAM will foster self-learning and learner-centric spaces. Significantly, students can opt to take proctored examinations (at minimal fees) in order to receive recognized certificates that can be transferred as credits across Indian universities.
Functioning
The model of operation of SWAYAM is based on a four-quadrant framework:
- e-Tutorials: High-quality lecture material, often lectured by field leaders and leading researchers, forms the nucleus of each course. For example, a “Data Structures” course sponsored by NPTEL is made up of lecturers from IIT Madras with animations of algorithmic graphics.
- e-Content: Chance reading materials, research papers, case studies, and slide decks for lecture classes supplement lecture classes. IIM Bangalore’s “Business Analytics” course case studies of Indian organizations in real-life scenarios enable applied learning.
- Discussion Forums: Peer-to-peer and student-to-peer discussion occurs on threaded discussion forums. Forum data analysis indicates that actively moderated courses—such as IGNOU-delivered “Mental Health Awareness” MOOC—are 15% more likely to be completed.
- Assessments: Continuous feedback is provided through quizzes, assignments, and mid-term exams. Final proctored examinations, conducted in over 300 centers throughout the nation, ensure academic rigor and credentials authenticity.
Nine “National Coordinators” (e.g., AICTE for engineering, UGC for general academics, and NITTTR for teachers’ training) look after course development, assuring pedagogic quality and synergistic fit with university syllabi.
- SWAYAM Plus: Expanding Digital Learning Horizons: In the Budget 2025, the government has introduced SWAYAM Plus, an advanced extension of the existing SWAYAM platform. Unlike its predecessor, SWAYAM Plus adopts an ecosystem approach, collaborating with academic institutions, industry leaders, ed-tech platforms, and individual contributors to offer employment-focused programs. It provides high-quality certification courses across diverse sectors, including Manufacturing, Energy, Banking, Finance, Healthcare, IT, Social Sciences, and Engineering. Additionally, SWAYAM Plus integrates with APAAR, enabling learners to accumulate credits from multiple institutions, both academic and industry.
By complementing initiatives like PM eVIDYA and NEAT, SWAYAM Plus fosters a holistic learning outcome, bridging the gap between academic knowledge and industry-relevant skills, ensuring greater inclusivity and employability
Performance
The six-year SWAYAM expansion has been remarkable—quantitative as well as qualitative:
- Enrollments rose from 0.5 crore in 2018 to 4.0 crore in 2023.
- Unique Registered Users rose to 1.21 crore as of early 2024.
- Courses Offered stood at 1,182 as of January 2024.
- Proctored Exam Takers rose from 2 lakh in 2018 to 26 lakh in 2023 (Figure 1).
Although this enormous scale-up is impressive, the low completion rates range around 4%, a figure that masks learner engagement problems. The reasons include the absence of customized learning paths, limited offline access, and periodic misalignment between course material and learners’ actual needs.
Key Performance Metrics from 2018 to 2023
(Graph drawn using Ministry of Education and Times of India data)
Impact
SWAYAM’s pedagogical and social impact is two-fold:
- Equity and Inclusion: The courses are offered in 12+ languages, including Hindi, Bengali, and Marathi, to extend accessibility to those who do not speak English. The “Financial Literacy” program, launched in 2022, has impacted 50,000 rural women with a Hindi-medium MOOC with self-help groups.
- Skill Development & Employability: Industry-specific courses under the SWAYAM Plus initiative, such as “Blockchain Essentials” with IBM India, provide hands-on lab facilities and certification for increased employability. A Ministry of Education survey (2024) reveals that 65% of SWAYAM Plus graduates receive internships or jobs within six months of certification.
- Closing the Digital Divide: Integration with the PM eVIDYA DTH channel brings SWAYAM lectures within reach of 5 lakh students in low internet bandwidth zones. ISL videos also increase the reach for hearing-impaired students.
- Academic Credit: Over 300 universities have adopted UGC credit transfer guidelines for SWAYAM courses, making it possible for students to replace 20% of their curriculum with online credits.
However, poor awareness enclaves persist within first-generation learners and remote rural areas with low digital competence.
Emerging Issues
- Content Currency: The majority of core STEM courses have not been updated since over three years ago, resulting in stale examples (e.g., pre-COVID market data).
- Suggestion: Introduce a cycle of annual review with content refreshment requirements, tracked by SWAYAM’s MIS dashboard.
- Learner Engagement: Rigid course design and batch-less admission deter consistent participation.
- Suggestion: Offer cohort-based as well as opt-in “live” Q&A and peer mentorship to establish a sense of community.
- Infrastructure Gaps: While 30% of rural areas still lack reliable digital access, SWAYAM can integrate with ongoing initiatives instead of starting from scratch. The Digital Bharat Nidhi program is expanding mobile broadband in 1.99 lakh villages, and projects like Alphabet’s Taara initiative are deploying laser-based internet technology in underserved regions. SWAYAM can tap into these efforts to ensure wider accessibility for learners.
- Suggestion: Jointly work with Gram Panchayats and local NGOs to provide digital learning kiosks with offline content caches.
- Awareness and Outreach: 40% of metro-city college students are unaware of SWAYAM’s credit advantage.
- Suggestion: Launch targeted campaigns on college placement cells, social media influencers, and SMS notifications to enrolled mobile numbers.
Way Forward
In order to establish a strong foundation for its leadership, SWAYAM must implement a multi-track approach:
- Dynamic Content Ecosystem: Employ AI-driven analytics to identify stale modules for renewal, computerized reminders for update, and crowd-source new case studies with industrial partners.
- Personalized Learning Paths: Implement adaptive learning algorithms recommending courses based on historical performance, career aspirations, and peer group comparisons.
- Enhanced Partnerships: Strengthen collaborations with state governments through the PM eVIDYA 2.0 system, and co-create “micro-credentials” with leading corporations to provide immediate employability gains.
- Effective Monitoring & Evaluation: Establish a unified dashboard integrating MIS data, learner feedback, and third-party quality audits—enabling real-time policy interventions.
By executing these steps, SWAYAM can cross scale to be a sustainable, learner-centric ecosystem that not just disseminates knowledge but also generates skills, jobs, and lifelong learning.
References
- SWAYAM Official Portal. Ministry of Education. Retrieved May 2025, from https://swayam.gov.in/
- National Education Policy (2020). Ministry of Education, Government of India.
- Times of India (2024). “SWAYAM outperforms elearning platforms—3 crore enrollments.”
- Ministry of Education MIS Dashboard (2018–2023).
- UGC Guidelines on Online Credit Transfer (2022).
- PM eVIDYA DTH Integration Report (2023).
- “Financial Literacy through SWAYAM” case study, IGNOU (2022).
About the Contributor:
Anisha Neogi, currently affiliated with IMPRI Insights, working towards a Master’s in Economics at the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade.
Acknowledgement
The author expresses sincere gratitude to all those who provided guidance, with special thanks to Dr Arjun Kumar and Ma’am Aasthaba Jadeja.
Disclaimer:
All views expressed in the article belong solely to the author and not necessarily to the organisation.
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