Delhi University may provide up to 20% courses online through Swayam portal

NEW DELHI: The Delhi University may provide up to 20% of its courses through online medium on the Swayam portal. A proposal in this regard will be placed before the academic council during its meeting scheduled for November 30.

According to the proposal, colleges may consider to provide up to 20% of the total courses being offered in a particular programme in a semester in online mode. This would supplement the teaching-learning process in the institute, the proposal said. The proposal is expected to be opposed by a large majority of AC members who feel that employment generation at the university will be at risk amid the push for online learning, according to Maya John, assistant professor, Jesus Mary college.

"Almost 90% of the academic council members will oppose this proposal as it is an anti-student and anti-teacher move. Classroom teaching is very important for many students who come from different backgrounds and this will also impact the need for teaching staff who will be substituted by online learning on Swayam," she said. The proposal is in line with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 that aims to achieve 50% Gross Enrolment Ratio (GRE) in higher education by year 2035 with the help of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) offered by the Swayam platform.

The academic council in June 2019 had sought the executive council's approval for the adoption of the UGC (Credit Framework for Online Learning Courses through SWYAM) Regulations, 2016. Earlier this year, the university's Department of Commerce had expressed its desire to implement MOOCs developed by teachers of the department and develop its course content based on the curriculum of the university.

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A departmental council meeting in February had decided and approved details regarding the title of the MOOC to be offered, its course coordinator, and credits to be assigned for the same. Currently, Delhi University does not provide MOOCs through Swayam -- a government portal for free online courses for students.