Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment launched an online portal TAPAS to offer MOOC Courses. The idea of TAPAS was conceptualised at a time when exploring the online medium for work and education had become imperative due to the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic. What fuelled it further was the Ministry’s vision of ensuring maximum participation of stakeholders and volunteers working in the field of social defence for better training and capacity building.
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| image from Press Information Bureau (pib.gov.in) |
TAPAS is the initiative of the National Institute of Social Defense (NISD), Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment. It aims to provide access to lectures by subject experts, study material and more, but in a manner that it supplements the physical classroom without compromising on the quality of teaching. The main objective of introducing the course modules is to impart training and enhance the knowledge and skills for the capacity building of the participants.
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| image from TAPAS portal |
It offers various courses in the field of social defence for the capacity of the building of stakeholders. Social defence is generally understood as the protection of society against crime through a systematically organised and coherent action by both the State and civil society.
National Institute of Social Defense(NISD) is a central advisory body for the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment. It is the nodal training and research institute in the field of social defence. The institute currently focuses on human resource development in the areas of drug abuse prevention, the welfare of senior citizens, beggary prevention, transgender and other social defence issues. The mandate of the institute is to provide inputs for the social defence programme of the Government of India through training, research and documentation.
The function of the TAPAS portal
TAPAS is a standard MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) platform with course material such as filmed lectured and e-study material. It also includes discussion forums to support and encourage interactions among students and courses coordinators.
It can be taken by anyone who wishes to enhance his or her knowledge on the topics and there is no fee for joining.
MOOC is a free Web-based distance learning programme that is designed for the participation of large numbers of geographically dispersed students. These courses provide virtual education to people from any corner of the world where the internet is accessible. Massive open online courses are expected to complement the future of higher education in the world. It can be taken up by anyone who wishes to enhance his or her knowledge on the topics and there is no fee for joining. The platform has been made with a quadrant approach which is Video, Text, self Assessment and Discussions.
TAPAS portal the five basic courses are Drug substance, Abuse prevention, Geriatric/Elderly care, Care and Management of Dementia, Transgender issues and the comprehensive course on social defence issues.
TAPAS portal courses registration procedure:
Visit National Institute of Social Defence official website http://www.nisd.gov.in/ and click on the 'ONLINE COURSES' or direct visit Tapas portal http://117.240.228.76/ilms_nisd/index.php
To avail the courses first complete registration process then login. Click on the 'Register'.
Choose your username and Password (password must be different and strong).
- Enter your email address.
- Enter your full name.
- Enter your full address briefly.
- Enter your mobile number.
- Enter your complete educational details with current status.
Now login with Username and Password (cookies must be enable your browser) and enrols your courses.
Here you will get option to reset your Username and Password if forgot it.
Eligibility:
These courses are open for everyone in world. Anyone who is interested to learn or enhance their knowledge and it absolutely free.
Duration:
The courses would be open for one month from the start of the course and it would run for two months from the start date. The course can be completed anytime within this duration and the final online examination would be conducted after the course end date.
Note: Please visit the NISD website for the exact dates of final exam.
There will be regular live interactive sessions with the course coordinator and this sessions will be notified through email. If anyone have doubts then clear through the discussion forum. After fulfil the course requirements such as doing the online assessment, submitting the assignments and then appear for the final online examination. Once successfully clear final online examination you get a certificate for doing the course.