UGC to launch new portal today, over 23,000 higher education courses

The main aim of the portal is to bridge the digital divide and enhance the accessibility of higher education in the remote parts of the country. The portal was launched during the second anniversary of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.

UGC to launch new portal today, over 23,000 higher education courses

The higher education regulator, University Grants Commission (UGC), has announced that over 23,000 courses, including programmes on Artificial Intelligence (AI), cyber security and early childhood is now available free of cost on a new web portal. The main aim of the portal is to bridge the digital divide and enhance the accessibility of higher education in remote parts of the country. The portal will bd launched during the second anniversary of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.

The UGC has collaborated with the ministry of electronics and information technology (MeitY) to integrate the e-resources with their over 7.5 lakh Common Service Centres (CSC) and Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) Centres to offer these courses from the forthcoming academic session of 2022-23.

"As part of its efforts in making higher education accessible to all, the UGC has been constantly working in making digital resources available to students in English as well as regional languages," UGC chairman M Jagadesh Kumar said.

"The CSCs aim is to provide digital access and make e-governance services available to the citizens especially those who are living in rural India at their doorstep. Nearly 2.5 lakh CSCs and SPVs are operating in Gram Panchayats and more than 5 lakh CSCs-SPVs centers are functional across the country. The CSCs and SPVs are managed and operated by entrepreneurs who belong to the local community and are referred to as village-level entrepreneurs (VLEs). VLEs operate the centers to earn their living by delivering online services. These centers have computers and internet connectivity," said Kumar.

The courses include 23,000 postgraduate courses, 137 SWAYAM MOOC courses in emerging areas and 25 non-engineering SWAYAM courses. There are no charges for accessing these on the UGC portal.

"All courses are free. However, for availing the services and infrastructure of CSC/ SVP, a user has to pay a fee of Rs 20 per day or Rs 500 per month to reimburse the VLEs efforts and cost of their infrastructure," said Kumar.

"This is similar to other government projects like Ayushman Bharat Yojana, PM Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana, e-Shram, Pan Card, Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Maandhan Yojana (PMSYM) and many others,” Kumar added.

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