PM to roll out academic credit bank

Source: The Hindu

About the news:

On the first anniversary of the National Education Policy (NEP), the Centre plans to officially roll out some initiatives promised in the policy.

About the implementation of National Education Policy:

• The government’s planned initiatives include a credit transfer system that will allow multiple entry and exit options in higher education, engineering programmes in regional languages.
• The much expected Academic Bank of Credit will be rolled out for students in over 290 top institutions from the current academic year 2021-22 onwards.

About the planned initiatives under NEP:

Credit transfer system:

• All institutions in the top 100 of the National Institutional Ranking Framework as well as those who have achieved an A grade under the National Assessment and Accreditation Council will be allowed to participate in the credit transfer system.
• This system will also allow multiple entry and exit options for students.
• Academic Bank of Credit will keep records of the academic credits of a student. It will not accept any credit course document directly from the students for any course they might be pursuing, but only from higher education institutes, who will have to make deposits in students’ accounts.
  • This will help in credit verification, credit accumulation, credit transfer and redemption of students, and promotion of the students

Engineering in regional languages: The government will also announce the launch of engineering degrees in regional languages in about 14 smaller institutions.

The government will also announce the establishment of the National Digital Education Architecture and National Education Technology Forum.

Multidisciplinarity is also being encouraged under the NEP. With the guidelines to be issued by the government, this will allow the merger of institutes as well as to give students the choice of taking subjects such as social sciences, music and sports while getting engineering degrees, or even get a minor degree in emerging areas while majoring in a different subject.