Minister of State for Human Resource Development (MHRD) Upendra Kushwaha on Monday said his ministry has taken a number of initiatives to promote e-learning in the country.

“The government has launched the SWAYAM portal for providing online learning courses offered by the best teachers to anyone desiring to learn anytime and anywhere from school to universities level,” the HRD minister said.

While replying to a query in Lok Sabha, the minister said that all Secondary Courses and Diploma in Elementary Education (D.El.Ed) programme are also delivered by National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) through SWAYAM Portal.

“NIOS has also taken various steps to promote e-learning at the school level with Virtual Open Schooling (VOS), Eklavaya–Massive Open Online Courses and MuktaVidyaVani,” the minister added.

The MHRD has launched an ambitious project called National Mission on Education through Information and Communication and Technology (NMEICT) to leverage the potential of ICT in teaching and learning process for the benefit of all the learners in Higher Education Institutions in anytime anywhere mode.

The minister informed the Lok Sabha that the total fund spent on e-learning by the NIOS during the last three years is INR 1,92,14,565 and no separate fund has been released to the states or UTs towards e-learning.

“At present, there is no proposal to start e-learning in all the universities,” the minister informed.