Digital Divide and Accessibility of MOOCs among Socio-Economically Disadvantaged Groups (SEDGs): A NEP 2020 Perspective

India's National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 positions technology-enabled learning and equity as twin pillars of reform, promoting Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) through the national SWAYAM platform as a means of widening participation in higher education. However, the emancipatory promise of MOOCs is conditioned by a multi-layered digital divide that falls most heavily on Socio-Economically Disadvantaged Groups (SEDGs)—the gender, geographic, socio-cultural, disability, and economic categories identified in NEP 2020. This study investigates the magnitude, structure, and consequences of that divide for MOOC accessibility and completion among SEDG learners, and interprets the findings against the policy commitments of NEP 2020. The purpose is threefold: to quantify first- and second-level access gaps, to model how those gaps translate into differential MOOC participation and completion, and to derive evidence-based policy implications. A quantitative, cross-sectional, comparative survey design was adopted, using a representative learner dataset calibrated to published Indian secondary statistics on connectivity, device ownership, and digital literacy. Analysis combined a weighted Digital Access Index, gap decomposition, chi-square tests, and binary logistic regression. Results show SEDG learners trailed non-SEDG learners on every access indicator, with a mean Digital Access Index of 0.41 against 0.72 (gap index 0.43); MOOC awareness, enrolment, and completion declined steeply and cumulatively, yielding SEDG completion of 9.3% versus 24.6%. Digital access, digital literacy, and language of instruction emerged as the dominant predictors of completion, while SEDG status retained a significant residual negative effect. The study concludes that NEP 2020's MOOC-based equity goals require bundled interventions targeting access, literacy, and language jointly rather than open provision alone.