Panaji, Sep 27 (IANS): Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Monday, while launching online courses, said that his government has set a target to make Goa self-reliant in every sector, including education.

Sawant was speaking after launching 'MANDAVI' (Mentoring and Nurturing Digital and Virtual Initiatives) flagship programme initiated by the Directorate of Higher Education (DHE).

Sawant said in villages students who are not able to complete direct Courses will be provided with an opportunity to pursue education and complete their courses in online mode on 'Mandavi' Channel.

"I am very happy with this initiative, which will help students to complete their education. I congratulate those who have contributed to it," he said.

Sawant said that the MANDAVI is an initiative of DHE for development of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) to provide high quality courses to thousands and millions of learners across the globe.

"MOOCA is a mode of learning where students can virtually attend digital higher education courses," he said.

"High quality education will be made available to everyone who is willing to learn. I have set a target to make Goa a self-reliant state in every sector, be it agriculture, industries and also in the education sector," he said.

"I am confident that our state will achieve excellence and become the role model for other states," he further said.

He appealed to youths to make best use of such an initiative to upgrade their knowledge and education.

Sawant said that MOOC courses currently under development at DHE are based on University Grants Commission (UGC) curriculum and choice based Credit System, which are proposed to be offered in credit transfer mode on the Study Webs of Active Learning for Young Aspiring Minds (SWAYAM) platform, a programme initiated by the Central government to offer various courses which students can pursue online.

He said that the state will get skilled manpower out of these online courses.

"Those who are already working or those searching for jobs can avail additional qualifications through this. This is an opportunity to compete at national and international level," he said.