NATIONAL CREDIT FRAMEWORK – POLITY
News: Vedas,
Puranas to fetch students’ credits under new framework
What's in the news?
● Students
will be able to earn credits for specialized
knowledge in Puranas, Vedas and the Indian Knowledge System, according to
the final report on the new National Credit Framework (NCrF) released by the
University Grants Commission.
Key takeaways:
● Credits
are essentially a “recognition that a learner has completed a prior course of
learning, corresponding to a qualification at a given level”. In other words,
it is a way of quantifying learning outcomes.
NCrF:
● The
NCrF is a set of guidelines to be
followed by schools, colleges and universities in adopting the credit system.
● A
meta-framework comprising National School Education Qualification Framework,
National Higher Education Qualification Framework, National Skills
Qualification Framework to integrate credits.
Why NCrF?
● The
National Education Policy (NEP) 2020
backs the integration of general academic education and vocational and skill
education, providing seamless horizontal and vertical mobility between the two
streams for lifelong learning.
● Provides
this mechanism while ensuring equivalence within and between these two
education streams.
Features:
● The
NCrF states that knowledge in the 18
Vidyas, including four Vedas, the four subsidiary Vedas (Ayurveda–medicine,
Dhanurveda – weaponry, Gandharveda-music and Silpa– architecture), Purana,
Nayaya, Mimansa, Dharmashastra, Vedanga, the six auxiliary sciences, phonetic,
grammar, metre, astronomy, ritual, and philosophy can be considered for
“creditization”.
● Performing arts
(dance, Indian classical music), games and sports (Olympics, federation games,
Asian Games, etc.), master craftsmen of heritage and traditional skills, social
work with high impact or in priority areas, and more will get student credits
in school and higher education.
● The
Indian knowledge system has also
been added to the list of fields eligible for creditization, under the special
achiever category.
Storage of Credits:
● Credits
earned by completing academic education, undergoing vocational education,
training/skill programme, and relevant experiential learning accumulated by
each student shall be stored in the Academic
Bank of Credits (ABC) technology platform.
● Even
experiential learning can be credited and used for acquiring qualifications.
Valid of Credits:
● According
to the University Grants Commission (Establishment and Operation of Academic
Bank of Credits in Higher Education) Regulations notified in July, 2021, the
credits shall remain valid for a maximum duration of seven years.
How is the NCrF different from the existing
frameworks?
● The
proposed NCrF seeks to integrate all the
frameworks under one umbrella.
● Moreover,
it also brings the entire school
education system under the ambit of credits for the first time.
○ So
far, only the National Institute of Open Schooling followed a credit system.
● The
NCrF also covers skill and vocational
education.
What are “notional learning hours”?
● A
student shall have to earn at least 40 credits for completing a year of school
education after putting in 1200 hours of
“notional learning hours”.
● Notion
learning hours in the context of NCRF means time spent not just in classroom teaching, but also in a range of
co-curricular and extracurricular activities.
● The
list of such activities include sports, yoga, performing arts, music, social
work, NCC, vocational education, as well as on the job training, internships or
apprenticeships.