Microsoft has been selected as the technical partner to build a mobile application for Union Human Resources Development Ministry’s SWAYAM (Study Webs of Active-Learning for Young Aspiring Minds) platform. Together they will The launch 2000 Massive Open Online Courses for over three crore students in 2016. Microsoft signed a deal of 38 crore rupees with AICTE (All India Council of Technical Education) to build and run the app for three years, which afterwards will be taken over by AICTE.

Details of the platform include:

• University Grants Commission (UGC) Regulation, 2016 was finalized in a credit framework for online learning courses through SWAYAM.
• According to the regulation, the partner institutions which are identified by the National MOOCs coordinator will make the online courses available on SWAYAM platform.
• Twice in each year, Registrars of all the institutions will be given the list of online courses being offered in each semester.
• Physical facilities like laboratories, computer facilities, library etc, shall be made available for free by the parent institution.
• A certificate upon successful completion of the MOOCs will be issued by the parent institution and issued through the host institution.
• The credits earned through courses through SWAYAM platform in the credit plan of the program will be given equivalent weightage by the parent institution.