UGC urges universities to adopt credit framework for online courses

The University Grants Commission (UGC) has urged all universities to adopt a credit framework for online courses delivered on the Study Webs of Active Learning for Young Aspiring Minds (SWAYAM) platform.

The framework allows an institution to authorize up to 40% of the total courses offered in a particular program during a semester through e-learning courses on the SWAYAM platform. “I would like to reiterate that SWAYAM offers students the flexibility and the possibility to enroll in several courses and to benefit from several certificates. Therefore, I ask all universities to adopt the courses offered through the SWAYAM platform, in order to that the student community can derive maximum benefit from it,” UGC Secretary Rajnish Jain said in an official letter.

The letter further mentioned that since the launch of the SWAYAM platform in 2017, 7,115 courses have been offered with an enrollment of 2.72 million learners and 11.13 lakhs of certificates issued through the platform. Moreover, during the lockdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the SWAYAM platform saw its usages surge, almost 2.5 lakh times.

According to the letter, the Ministry of Education conducted an online survey in May 2022 to understand students’ perspectives for SWAYAM MOOCs. This survey provided information and insights into student preferences at the national and state level. The survey shows that more than 70% of students (more than 10,000) from 338 universities and institutions in 29 states expressed interest in receiving credit transfer from SWAYAM courses.

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