In news Recently, the Ministry for Social Justice and Empowerment has launched an online portal TAPAS (Training for Augmenting Productivity and Services).
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 Covid 19 pandemic.
About the initiative
It is an initiative of National Institute of Social Defense (NISD) whereby various courses in the field of social defence for the capacity building of stakeholders are offered.
Objective: To impart training and enhance the knowledge and skills for the capacity building of the participants.
It is a standard MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) platform with course material such as filmed lectures and e-study material.
MOOC is a free Web-based distance learning program that is designed for the participation of large numbers of geographically dispersed students.
It also includes discussion forums to support and encourage interactions among students and course coordinators.
It will 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.
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.
Courses: The five basic courses are on Drug (Substance) Abuse Prevention, Geriatric/Elderly Care, Care and Management of Dementia, Transgender Issues and on comprehensive course on Social Defence Issues.
