IIT Madras Launches Six Skill Courses On SWAYAM Plus Platform

HYDERABAD: The Indian Institute of Madaras (IIT), Madras has launched six skill-based courses developed by the experts from the institute through the SWAYAM Plus platform, in partnership with the IITM Pravartak Technologies.

The new courses include ‘Advanced Electronic Manufacturing’, an NCrF 4.5-level course; ‘CNC Machining’—fundamentals with practical exposure; ‘Comprehensive Electronics and Embedded Systems’, an NCrF 4.5-level course; ‘Digital Manufacturing Practice’, an NCrF 4.5-level course; and ‘Smart Manufacturing’—Fundamentals.

What is SWAYAM Plus

SWAYAM Plus is a joint initiative by the Union Ministry of Education and IIT Madras, launched in line with National Education Policy’s (NEP 2020) focus on encouraging employability-focused and skilling courses. It aims to build job skills among graduates across the chosen sectors critical to the country’s growth. The aim is also to align industry skills with academic courses.

As on date, SWAYAM Plus has more than 1 lakh registered learners and 55 industry partners around 300 industry-focused courses, of which 60 of them are NCrF aligned courses. It offers more than 11,000 internship opportunities across industries ranging from manufacturing, energy and BFSI (Banking, Financial Services and Insurance) to digital and emerging technologies, among others.

Digital first ecosystem

Speaking on ‘Skilling the next generation of learners in a digital first ecosystem – The NEP perspective’, Sunil Kumar Barnwal, Additional Secretary, Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Education, said, “The whole regime of regulations and restrictions have been done away with the NEP. It is not just a document to state what the Government of India is going to do but a vision document on what the country wants to achieve. So, it is not just the Government but every institution involved in academics and research are part of this journey. A student can think of completing his degree before the three or four years if he can get the required credits. We understand that the focus is not only the institute but the learner who is the focus of the policy. The campus itself can go to all other places and deliver courses online and many other platforms.”

Industry ready graduates

One key requirement is to make the students ‘industry ready’. Now, in SWAYAM Plus the industry designs the course and the institute offers them. Such workshops should be held across the country so that all Higher Educational Institutions, be it technical, Central and State Universities, also benefit. This new policy makes internships and apprenticeships easy for the students and more internship-embedded programmes are on the anvil. Students get credits for the internships and complete the course with practical knowledge, he added.

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