As the world was discovering the exact nature of a novel strain of coronavirus, students were the first to be sent home. In India, an unusual surge in the usage of online learning platforms was and is being reported with each passing day. Just like the education ministries around the world responded to this dilemma in their personal capacity by launching online education portals and programs, the Indian government, too, responded adequately by promoting and launching excellent digital initiatives and resources. These portals not only provide the students a complete access to study materials, but also allow them to engage and interact with teachers online, just like they would in a face-to-face classroom setting.
This article takes a look at some of these e-learning initiatives by the government that the Indian students can avail free of cost.
Government Online Learning Platforms – List of top government online learning portals
SWAYAM
SWAYAM is a programme initiated by the Government of India to provide the best-of-the-best learning resources to students pursuing education from Class 9 to post-graduation. With a special focus on the disadvantaged sections of the society, SWAYAM aims to bridge the digital divide for students who still have not been able to join the mainstream student force.
All the courses can be accessed on the portal (developed by Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) and NPTEL, IIT Madras) free of cost. However, if a student wants a SWAYAM certificate, he/she needs to register and pay a minimal fee for the final exams and attend face-to-face sessions on specified dates at designated centres. The certificate for each course demands certain eligibility criteria and students will get the certificates only if the criteria is matched. The universities and colleges approving credit transfer for these courses can consider the marks/certificate obtained in these courses.
The courses on SWAYAM platform are divided into 4 parts –
- Video lecture
- Reading material that can be downloaded or printed (Prepared by more than 1,000 specially chosen teachers and faculty from across the country.)
- Self-assessment tests
- Online discussion forum for clearing of doubts
| Level of Education | SWAYAM partners |
| School | NIOS, NCERT |
| Out-of-school | IGNOU, NITTTR |
| Under-graduation | NPTEL, AICTE, CEC, IIM-B |
| Post-graduation | UGC, AICTE, IIMB, NPTEL |
Visit swayam.gov.in/about and enrol for your choice of course.
National Repository of Open Educational Resources (NROER)
The NROER platform boasts of 16,000 registered users and 14,527 resources. This initiative by the Ministry of HRD has become popular amongst students who visit the NROER portal/website to get access to a wide range of e-libraries, e-books, e-courses. Students also get several chances to participate in educational events online and participate in theme-based education.
Some other salient features of this platform are:
- Students can access the NROER website in both Hindi and English.
- Scholars have to enroll on the platform to start learning lessons that are taught in the classroom.
- Students can access a repository of 14,527 files comprising around 3,000 documents, 1,300+ interactive sessions, 1,600+ audios, 2,586 images and 6,100+ videos in different languages.
- Students can test their learning through pre-set assignments.
Visit http://nroer.gov.in/welcome to get access to NROER portal.
DIKSHA
National Digital Infrastructure for Teachers or DIKSHA is a portal that is available to both students from 1 to 12 and their teachers. Both the teachers and students can readily avail the learning material that includes more than 80,000 ebooks solely for Class 12 (created by CBSE, NCERT and States or Union Territories) which are available in multiple languages. This focus is to ensure that students in their final and most important year of school do not miss out on their education in the absence of a physical classroom environment. In order to access the learning material, the students and teachers are supposed to scan the QR code available on textbooks.
Download DIKSHA app from Google Play and iOS Store
Website: diksha.gov.in
e-Pathshala
e-Pathshala is a web portal for students pursuing education from class 1 to 12. These students can access 1,886 audios, 2,000 videos, 696 e-books, and 504 flip books in different languages. This online treasure of educational material has been made available by the NCERT to ensure that the students are updated with all the important and basic concepts taught in the class.
Visit epathshala.gov.in
SWAYAM PRABHA
Swayam Prabha is a free DTH channel for education. This portal has 32 DTH channels which run their educational content for students on 24/7 basis. New content of minimum 4 hours is uploaded on the website every day which is repeated 5 different times during the day. This allows students to avail the content at a time which is most suitable for them. These channels can be viewed across India by using DD free Dish set-top box and antenna.
The channels cover study material for both school education (Class 9 to 12) and higher education (graduation, post-graduation, out of school children, vocational courses and teacher training) in science, arts, commerce, social sciences, humanities, performing arts, engineering, technology, agriculture, law, and medicine. Moreover, students in 11th and 12th grade can also prepare for competitive exams through this portal. The educational content is provided by top-notch education bodies like NPTEL, IITs, UGC, CEC, IGNOU, NCERT and NIOS.
Apply for the DD free dish set-top box and antenna. For any further questions, mail at swayamprabha@inflibnet.ac.in. Visit www.swayamprabha.gov.in
Government Online Learning Platforms – FAQ’s
Q. What is SWAYAM platform?
Ans. SWAYAM is a programme initiated by the Government of India to provide the best-of-the-best learning resources to students pursuing education from Class 9 to post-graduation. It is the world’s largest free online learning platform that aims to bridge the digital divide for disadvantaged students who still have not been able to join the mainstream student force.
Q. Does SWAYAM help in getting you a good job?
Ans. Developed by the MHRD and AICTE, SWAYAM platform hosts video lectures, reading material, self-assessment tests and online discussion forums to clear doubts of students. This tremendous material containing 2,000+ courses and 80,000+ hours of learning has been created by over a 1,000 teachers and alumni for scholars in Class 9 to post-graduation (including for those pursuing professional courses like law and engineering.) Therefore, if you get a SWAYAM certificate with a good score, chances of landing a good job increases.