News Highlight
All school students are set to come under a unified credit system as the government plans to introduce the National Credit Framework (NCrF).
Key Takeaway
- The National Credit Framework will also cover all co-curricular and extra-curricular activities across streams.
The National Credit Framework
- What?
- The draft National Credit Framework or NCrF was recently released by the Union Ministry of Education.
- It is a framework, under the 2020 National Education Policy, to integrate the credits earned via school education, higher education, vocational training and skill education.
- Such a framework already exists for higher education and for the technical education field. This is the first time it is being applied to school and vocational education.
- The draft NCrF:
- National Credit Framework Draft is an inclusive umbrella framework to integrate the credits earned through school education, higher education and vocational & skill education.
- The draft NCrF was formulated by a high-level committee consisting of members from
- University Grants Commission (UGC)
- All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE)
- National Council of Vocational Education and Training (NCVET)
- National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS)
- Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE)
- National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT)
- Union Education Ministry
- Directorate General of Training (DGT)
- Union Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship
- Credits for School Students:
- While the National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) follows a credit system, currently there is no established credit mechanism for regular school education in the country.
- At the higher education level, there is a choice-based credit system, where the requirement for awarding a degree or diploma or certificate is prescribed in terms of the number of credits to be earned by students.
- School students will be able to earn credits from classroom learning as well as extracurricular activities, which will be deposited in a credit bank. This system is already in place at the higher academic level.
- Integration of All Frameworks:
- Besides, frameworks for higher education and skill education are currently not integrated, and the proposal is to integrate all frameworks, including the one at the school level, under one umbrella.
- NCrF will seamlessly integrate the credits earned through school education, higher education and vocational and skill education by encompassing the National Higher Education Qualification Framework (NHEQF), National Skills Qualification Framework (NSQF) and National School Education Qualification Framework (NSEQF).
- Aadhaar-enabled Student Registration:
- There are plans to conduct an “Aadhaar-enabled student registration” drive where student registration will take place.
- Operationalization:
- The NCrF will be operationalized through the Academic Bank of Credits (ABC) which was launched in 2021 by the University Grants Commission for higher education.
- Academic Bank of Credits (ABC):
- After student registration, an Academic Bank of Credits (ABC) account will be opened, where credits can be deposited. The deposit of degrees and credits will take place in those accounts.
- Need for NCrF:
- To open numerous options for further progression of students.
- To ensure the inter-mingling of school and higher education with vocational education and experiential learning.
- To prepare the educational system for gradual implementation of National Education Policy provisions such as the four-year undergraduate programmes, which come with features such as multiple entry and exit.
- To enable students who have dropped out of mainstream education to re-enter the education ecosystem.
- Components:
- The National Credit Framework NCrF encompasses the following three components.
- National Higher Education Qualification Framework (NHEQF)
- National Skills Qualification Framework (NSQF)
- National School Education Qualification Framework (NSEQF)
- The National Credit Framework NCrF encompasses the following three components.
- Knowledge Locker:
- There will be a knowledge locker along the lines of DigiLocker.
Content Source: Times of India