UGC to Set Up National Academic Credit Bank, More Higher Education Options for Students
UGC is exploring the possibilities to set up National Academic Credit Bank (NAC). NAC Bank system will enable students to tune the course of learning in whatever direction they want.
The University Grants Commission (UGC) will soon set up the National Academic Credit Bank (NAC-Bank) with an aim to help students plan their learning objectives and graduate with a degree before the stipulated period. The system of academic credit bank is already prevalent in many foreign countries.
The National Academic Credit Bank will enable non-science students (arts and commerce stream) to take up courses in the science stream after completing a bridge course/ programme. Through this initiative, students can plan their academic/ learning objectives and pursue courses as per their wishes and requirement.
UGC has also released a concept note on NAC-Bank on www.ugc.ac.in. The commission has also invited the views and suggestions from all Higher Education Institutes (HEIs) including teachers, students, education personnel, on the NAC-Bank latest by December 20, 2019.
About National Academic Credit Bank (NAC-Bank) System
The academic credit bank system will revolutionise the Indian education system. At present, Class 12 Science stream students can choose Arts/ Commerce courses in UG. However, Class 12 Arts students are not allowed to choose Science courses at the UG level. Through the NAC Bank system, non-science background students can complete a bridge course, earn a certain number of credits and enroll in science courses.
In all, the NAC Bank system will enable students to tune the course of learning in whatever direction they want.
In order to have a clear understanding of NAC-Bank system, students need to look at the examples below –
Example 1 – Let us assume that a B.Sc Physics student needs 100-credit points of which 80 credit points are mandatory from the core subject/subjects to finish the course. During the vacations, the student can accrue remaining 20 points from a MOOC (Massive Online Open Course)/ conventional course/ hobby courses (such as music/ dance/ sports), which can be pursued from another institution. As soon as the student earns 80 points from the core subject, he/she can move to the next level of the education without spending the specified time in the course, as he/she redeems the remaining 20 points.
Example 2 – Let us assume that a student joins a university to pursue a course in Philosophy. The student needs three credits to complete a semester. What the student can do is, he/she can earn three credits in the university and move onto another university to obtain the remaining credits of different semesters. Finally, the student must gather all the earned credits and ‘deposit’ to another university, and the concerned university awards degree to the student.
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UGC Vice-Chairperson, Bhushan Patwardhan proposed the idea of NAC Bank in the 3rd National Teachers’ Congress at MIT World Peace University, Pune. The NAC Bank policy will ensure multiple-entry and exit arrangements for students.
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UGC Chairperson, Mr. DP Singh appointed a six-member committee to explore the NAC-Bank concept. The innovative system ensures students’ mobility across the higher education system. Besides degree authentication, NAC Bank facilitates a wide range of services like credit accrual/ accumulation, credit redemption, and credit transfers.