NPTEL begins enrolment for online certificate courses

CHENNAI: National Programme on Technology Enhanced Learning (NPTEL), a SWAYAM national coordinator, has started enrolment for more than 500 online certification courses for the January-April 2021 semester. NPTEL offers courses for students and working professionals free of cost.
Some of the popular courses include programming, data structures and algorithms using Python, basic electrical circuits, engineering thermodynamics, health research fundamentals and constitutional studies.
Students can join these courses through the website - https://swayam.gov.in/.
The NPTEL is a joint initiative of IITs and IISc and certification courses are offered through the Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) format. Learners must watch videos online, submit assignments on a weekly basis and register for an in-person final exam which is invigilated.
Prathap Haridoss, coordinator, SWAYAM-NPTEL-IIT Madras, said, “Companies can partner with NPTEL and use NPTEL courses to train their freshers, cross-skill and up-skill their existing workforce.” It currently has 49 industry partners.
Andrew Thangaraj, another coordinator, said, “In order to streamline the efforts of learners and to guide them to obtain expertise in an area, NPTEL has initiated the idea of ‘Domain Certification.’ A domain comprises a set of core and elective NPTEL courses. Those who complete a domain (specified core courses + elective courses) with an average score of 60 will get a domain certificate from NPTEL."
SWAYAM-NPTEL currently works closely with more than 4,000 colleges in engineering, arts, commerce, science and management disciplines across the country. Many students are taking these certification exams as it helps them in improving their employability.
Sarada Raman, an 86-year-old retired headmistress, is one among the oldest learners to take up NPTEL certification. She has taken up German language from NPTEL.