UGC urges HEIs to inform students on SWAYAM Prabha's new SMS, WhatsApp feature

NEW DELHI: A new SMS and WhatsApp feature has been introduced to improve student accessibility to SWAYAM Prabha. This feature aims to conveniently and effectively communicate information about the schedule for various courses.

Meanwhile, all higher education institutions have been urged by the University Grant Commission (UGC) to spread the word about the new SMS and WhatsApp feature among teachers, faculty members and students.

"This way, both faculty members and students can become aware of this facility and reap substantial benefits from it," the official notice read.

This tool is intended to efficiently convey scheduling updates across many disciplines. The SMS service, which is powered by an AI engine within the SWAYAM Prabha site, enables systematic and coherent information distribution to students. The UGC considers this effort as a step towards achieving the objective of providing high-quality education in places with limited digital or internet access.

Previously, the SWAYAM Prabha initiatives saw an increase in channel count, increasing from 22 to 40. These channels are created by various agencies which are under the ministry of education such as UGC, IITs, and IGNOU.

The varied material includes a wide range of courses for both postgraduate (PG) and undergraduate (UG) students from multiple disciplines such as arts, science, commerce, performing arts, social science, humanities, engineering technology, law, agriculture, health science, design, apparel.

SWAYAM Prabha is an initiative of the NMEICT scheme under the Ministry of Education's Department of Higher Education. The initiative provides high-quality educational material via Direct to Home (DTH) channels countrywide, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, reducing the digital gap for students.