National Credit Framework: Unversity Grants Commission (UGC) Chairman M Jagadesh Kumar on Wednesday gave a presentation on the National Credit Framework (NCrf) that will now be adopted by the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs). The decision has been taken by the IIT council in its 55th meeting to facilitate earning, transfer and accumulation of credits by students.
What is National Credit Framework?
National Credit Framework is said to be a comprehensive credit framework encompassing elementary, school, higher and vocational education and training. The all-inclusive framework also integrates creditisation of learning in various dimensions -- academics, vocational skills and experiential learning -- as well as relevant experience, proficiency and professional levels.
During the IIT Council meeting held on Tuesday in Bhubaneswar, UGC Chairman Mamidala Jagadesh Kumar made a presentation on the National Credit Framework. The council has decided to adopt NCrF and implement it across all IITs.
"The National Education Policy 2020 envisions making education more holistic and effective and emphasizes the integration of general (academic) education and vocational education. A national credit accumulation and transfer system is essential to fulfilling this vision. "The government constituted a high-level committee with members from UGC, AICTE, NCVET, NIOS, CBSE, NCERT, DGT, Ministry of Education, and Ministry of Skill Development," Kumar said at the meeting.
Benefits of National Credit Framework
Encompassing school education under a credit framework for the first time, NCrF has divided the learning ecosystem into eight levels, assigning credits based on learning hours.
"Adoption of national credit framework by the IIT Council is a great decision since this will provide a better equivalence of credits obtained in general (academic) education, technical education, and skill & vocational education. "It will encourage the rest of the higher education system to adopt and implement the national credit framework bringing a unified inclusive meta framework across the country," the UGC chaiperson said.
The IIT Council is apex coordination body of all the 23 premier engineering colleges and looks after the administrative and other key affairs at the IITs. It includes directors and chairpersons of all 23 IITs.
