BHU Launches 121 INI-Swayam Courses for Jan-Apr 2026

• BHU launches 121 INI SWAYAM courses Jan–Apr 2026 across multiple disciplines
• AMU offers 48 courses, RRU 2 courses; BHU adds 2 international courses on digital entrepreneurship
• Courses run 4–12 weeks, in Hindi/bilingual, providing free online education via SWAYAM

Banaras Hindu University (BHU) has made a significant move by offering 121 credit-ready Institutes of National Importance (INI) SWAYAM courses for the academic session of January–April 2026. The courses are made available across various fields for the benefit of the students all over India.

For the upcoming January 2026, BHU has planned to open up 71 courses in total ranging from Sciences, Engineering, Management, Medicine, Education, Humanities, Social Sciences, Law, and interdisciplinary studies. The classes will begin on 26 January and 16 February 2026.

SWAYAM (Study Webs of Active Learning for Young Aspiring Minds) is the brainchild of the Ministry of Education which aims to promote and facilitate the distribution of free, high-quality online education to the populace across the country.

Apart from BHU, Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) is also in the picture by providing 48 courses from Arabic to Zoology, and the starting date for them is 26 January 2026.

As a part of the initiative, Rashtriya Raksha University (RRU) is also doing its bit by offering two courses in Defence & Strategic Studies and Forensic Accounting. The students interested in such learning opportunities can go to swayam.gov.in/INI to register.

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“This is a big step forward in terms of access, flexibility, and quality. BHU will make sure that the INI–SWAYAM courses are in line with the spirit of NEP 2020 by being interdisciplinary, focused on getting students skilled, and open to all motivated students”, stated Dr Ashutosh Mohan, National Coordinator, INI–SWAYAM, MoE, GoI of the Institute of Management Studies, BHU.

BHU, in conjunction with the SEPT Competence Centre at the University of Leipzig, Germany, is also extending its reach by introducing two co-developed courses on an international level.

The new courses are Digital Marketing and Branding for Start-ups, which is about the whole process from customer discovery through media mix to measurement and growth strategies, and Foundation of Digital Entrepreneurship, which is aimed at first-time founders through idea validation, digital product basics, compliance, and go-to-market strategies. Choose courses available in Hindi or bilingual formats.

Earlier in 2025, the faculty at BHU made 63 SWAYAM programmes. These, which last from four to twelve weeks, cover a wide area of topics from business, management, arts, humanities, social sciences, life sciences, psychology, law, engineering, Ayurveda to the total quality online education thus, access across disciplines is further strengthened.