Union Education Minister Launches SWAYAM Plus: Enhancing Employability Through Industry Partnerships

New Delhi: Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Tuesday launched the SWAYAM Plus platform, in collaboration with IIT-Madras, aiming to offer employability-focused programs in partnership with industry players. This initiative aligns with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, expanding the scope of SWAYAM to cater to working professionals and higher education students, totalling 43 million individuals.

SWAYAM, a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) platform, initially launched in 2017, has seen significant growth with 72 lakh enrollments by 2023. SWAYAM Plus enhances this platform by incorporating courses tailored to industry demands, thus enhancing learners’ job prospects.

Developed with inputs from industry giants like L&T, Microsoft, and CISCO, SWAYAM Plus offers innovative features including multilingual content, AI-enabled guidance, and credit recognition. Its primary goal is to create an ecosystem benefiting learners, course providers, industry, academia, and strategic partners.

Key objectives of SWAYAM Plus include providing credit recognition for high-quality certifications, reaching learners from diverse backgrounds, and offering employment-focused courses in vernacular languages. Additionally, the platform plans to introduce mentorship, scholarships, and job placements to further support learners’ career growth.

Higher Education Secretary K Sanjay Murthy emphasizes the importance of industry participation and contributions from subject matter experts in developing certified courses across various verticals.