Previous Year Question
‘SWAYAM’, an initiative of the Government of India, aims at:
Promoting Self-Help Groups in rural areas
Providing financial and technical assistance to young start-up entrepreneurs
Promoting the education and health of adolescent girls
Providing affordable and quality education to citizens free of cost
Correct Answer: D
Detailed Solution
SWAYAM—Study Webs of Active-Learning for Young Aspiring Minds is the Ministry of Education’s online learning platform. It aims to make quality education widely accessible without being limited by a learner’s economic, geographical or institutional circumstances.
SWAYAM provides courses from Class 9 to the postgraduate level. Courses generally follow a four-quadrant structure:
Video lectures.
Reading material that can be downloaded or printed.
Self-assessment tests and quizzes.
An online discussion forum for resolving doubts.
Course content is available to learners free of cost. However, a learner seeking a formal certificate may have to register for a proctored examination and pay the prescribed examination fee. Thus, “free education” means free access to course content; every certification process need not be free.
National Coordinators have been appointed for different educational sectors. These include AICTE, NPTEL, UGC, CEC, NCERT, NIOS, IGNOU, IIM Bangalore, NITTTR and Institutes of National Importance.
Credits earned through SWAYAM may be transferred to a student’s academic record by universities and colleges in accordance with the prescribed UGC and AICTE regulations.
Current status (2026)
SWAYAM is fully operational. Its official portal carries information on January 2026 semester results and courses approved for the July 2026 semester. Under the current framework:
Courses remain available from Class 9 to the postgraduate level.
Credit transfer alongside online learning continues.
Course content is generally available free of cost.
Prescribed examination and fee conditions may apply for certification.
SWAYAM Plus has expanded the platform towards industry-relevant and employability-oriented courses.
Thus, the original SWAYAM initiative has neither been discontinued nor merged into another scheme; it remains one of the Ministry of Education’s active digital-education platforms.