College Disha

UGC to Offer more than 23,000 Higher Education Courses for Free on New Portal

29 Mar, 2024

UGC to Offer more than 23,000 Higher Education Courses for Free on New Portal

UGC is about to launch a new portal to offer free higher education in backward areas of the country. It will be launched on 29 July 2024 on the occasion of the second-year completion of NEP 2024. Students will be able to find over 23,000 higher education courses on this portal and enroll in their desired courses free of cost.

Among these 23,000 courses, programs such as Cyber Security, Artificial Intelligence, and Early Childhood Care will be available on a new web portal, Said UGC on Thursday.UGC's upcoming portal aims to fill the loopholes in the online education system and enhance the accessibility of higher education in remote areas.

The Commission has collaborated with the Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology to provide the e-resources with their 7.5 Lacs+ Common Service Centres and Special Purpose Vehicle Centres to offer the programs for the academic session 2024-25.

UGC Chairman M Jagadesh Kumar said" 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"

The Common Service Centre is aiming to grant digital access and e-governance services available to the citizens of India, especially to those who are residing in rural India. Around 2.5 Lac CSCs and SPVs are functional in the Gram Panchayats and over 5 lac CSCs-SPVs centers are operating across the country.

UGC Chairman further added “ The CSCs and SPVs are being operated and managed by the businessmen who belong to the local community and are referred to as village level entrepreneurs (VLEs). VLEs operate the centers to earn their livelihood by delivering online services. These centers have computers and internet connectivity.”

These courses include 23,000 UG and PG courses, 137 SWAYAM MOOC courses in emerging fields, and 25 non-technological SWAYAM Courses. Students do not require to pay any fees to access these courses on the new web portal of UGC. However, for availing of the services and infrastructure of the CSC/SVP, the user has to pay Rs 20 per day or Rs 500 per month to indemnify the efforts and infrastructure costs of Village Level Entrepreneurs.

This initiative by UGC is similar to other government projects such as Ayushman Bharat Yojana, E-shram, PM Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana, Pradhan Mantri Sham Yogi Maandhan, and many others.

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