New Delhi: The University Grants Commission (UGC) Wednesday notified the Academic Bank of Credits (ABC), an academic service mechanism for storing and transferring of academic credits of a student. The scheme is in line with the new National Education Policy.
According to the gazette notification released by the government, Academic Bank of Credits shall be a national-level facility to promote flexibility of curriculum framework and interdisciplinary or multidisciplinary academic mobility of students across higher education institutions in the country.
“The regulations are meant to create appropriate credit transfer mechanism and shall facilitate students to choose their own learning path to attain a Degree or Diploma or Post Graduate diploma or academic qualification, working on the principle of multiple entry-multiple exit as well as any-time, any-where, and any-level learning,” the notification says.
“It will enable the integration of multiple disciplines of higher learning, leading to the desired learning outcomes including enhanced creativity, innovation, higher order thinking and critical analysis,” it adds.
What it means
The ABC will provide the opportunity for students to tailor their degrees or make specific modifications or specialisations rather than undergoing the rigid, regularly prescribed degree or courses of a single university or autonomous college. It will also permit students to choose a pace for their studies along with the associated logistics and costs, the notification says.
Similar to a bank account, the credit bank will be a repository where students’ academic credits — calculated on the basis of classwork and tutorials — will be stored. Simply put, with the help of ABC, a student can avail multiple entry and exit options in higher education institutions and opt for a tailor-made degree. They can choose to study one course in a year in one institution and switch to another one the next year.
ABC shall be established, on the lines of the National Academic Depository (NAD), which stores a student’s academic documents and shall have a website providing all details of ABC and its operational mechanism for the use of all stakeholders of higher education.
It will be a bank for academic purposes, following the pattern of commercial banks for financial purposes, with students as academic account holders. Students will be able to avail a variety of services including credit verification, credit accumulation, credit transfer or redemption, and authentication of academic awards.
Also read: How students can save, transfer credits, design their own degree & more — UGC shows the way