Credit system under National Education Policy 2020

National Education Policy 2020 (NEP-2020) completed one year on July 29. On the occasion, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Academic Bank of Credit (ABC) that will facilitate multiple entry/exit into courses. To enable this, the University Grants Commission (Establishment and Operation of Academic Bank Of Credits in Higher Education) Regulations, 2021, have been notified. These guidelines will govern the entry and exit into all universities (including deemed-to-be category) and autonomous colleges. Here is a look at how the new ABC system will work…

Credit system in college education

Academic Bank of Credit will be applicable from the academic year 2021-22. So credits earned from this year onwards can be stored digitally.

The regulations state ‘credit’ means the standard methodology for calculating one hour of theory or one hour of tutorial or two hours of laboratory work per week for a semester (13-15 weeks).

This leads to the award of one credit by the institution. In addition, credits for internship will be one per week of internship, subject to a maximum of six credits. These credits are stored digitally using DigiLocker.

Credits be stored digitally

The credits will be stored in an Academic Bank Account (ABC). Once this account is opened, all academic credits will be deposited into it. These credits will be required to award degrees, diplomas or certificates on completion of an academic course. These credits can be stored for a maximum of seven years.

If a student switches from one course to another within the recognised universities/colleges under UGC, the credits in the academic bank can be redeemed.

ABC enrolment eligiblilty

Universities and autonomous colleges accredited by either the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) with minimum ‘A’ grade, or by the National Board of Accreditation (NBA) for at least three programme(s) with a minimum score of 675 individually are eligible.

However, if the number of programme(s) being run by the institution is less than three, 675 or more marks should be secured in each of the programmes. An alternative is that they should be among the top 100 National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF).

Working of the credit system

There are five levels — Level 5 to Level 10. After the completion of each level, which is typically two semesters, a student is eligible to get either a certificate, diploma or a degree.

For entry into level 5, the eligibility is a school leaving certificate after the completion of Class 12. Over and above this are the entry requirements specific to each university. Once a student completes the first year in college with 36-40 credits, he/she is awarded a certificate.

In case a student decides to exit the programme, the ABC will store these credits that can be redeemed for rejoining this course or an allied course within seven years.

If the student continues to the second year and completes it with 72-80 credits, a diploma is awarded. Similar to the first year, he/she can exit at this stage with a diploma and can rejoin within seven years after redeeming the credits.

Once a student completes the third year of a UG degree programme, he/she will be awarded a Bachelor’s Degree. Here, 108-120 credits are required.

When it comes to the Master’s level, a student can exit after one year, with a one-year diploma. Completion of the full two-year programme will lead to a Master’s Degree.

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