NATIONAL CREDIT FRAMEWORK

1. Context

The policy to integrate this credit system, the draft National Credit Framework (NCrF), was put in the public domain by Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on October 19.

2. Key points

School students in India can soon earn "Credits" from classroom learning as well as extracurricular activities and deposit them in a "bank" much like the system already being followed in some colleges and universities.
It has been drafted by an 11-member committee headed by the National Council of Vocational Education and Training (NCVET) chairperson Nirmaljeet Singh Kalsi.

3. Credits in the education system

Credits are essentially a "recognition that a learner has completed a prior course of learning, corresponding to a qualification at a given level", according to the draft document.
In other words, it is a way of quantifying learning outcomes.

4. How does the Credit system work?

Take for example the Choice-Based Credit System (CBCS) followed by many universities in India.
Under the CBCS, students need to earn a certain number of credits for completing a degree.
While doing so it offers them the opportunity to mix and match a wide variety of courses, enabling interdisciplinary and intradisciplinary education.
This is not possible under the conventional marks or percentage-based evaluation system.

5. Flexibility in choosing courses

At a time the University Grants Commission (UGC) is encouraging provisions such as the four-year undergraduate programme with multiple entries and exit options, a credit-based approach has become imperative.
Simply put, it offers flexibility in choosing courses, the option to change courses or institutions midway or to reenter the education system after dropping out without losing years.
The students can digitally deposit their credits in the Academic Bank of Credits or ABC, which in many ways works like a commercial bank and redeem them whenever required.

6. Credit frameworks

These are guidelines to be followed by schools, colleges and universities in adopting the credit system.
For example, the National Higher Education Qualification Framework (NHEQF) lays out the guidelines for higher education institutions that want to implement the credit system.

7. NCrF is different from the existing frameworks

The proposed NCrF seeks to integrate all the frameworks under one umbrella.
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.

8. Validity 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.

9. Highlights of the NCrF

The biggest change that the NCrF, once implemented, will usher in is in the school education sector.
All the provisions of the credit system will also be available to school students.
It will remove the need for equivalence certification for academic programmes that meet the NCrF requirements and facilitate the transfer of students between schools and boards.

As the draft points out, "NCrF addresses the difficulties students are facing in respect of equivalence of certificates issued by various school education boards in India for admissions in higher education institutions and employment in Central/State Government".

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"

10. 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 includes sports, yoga, performing arts, music, social work, NCC, Vocational education, as well as on-the-job training, internships or apprenticeships.

11. How will the Credit points be obtained?

For calculation, the NCrF has divided the education system into multiple levels.
For school education, there are four levels. Students clearing class XII will be at credit level 4.
For higher education, the levels are from 4.5 to 8 which is from first-year UG to PhD.
The total credit points earned by the students will be obtained by multiplying the credits earned by them with the NCrF level at which the credits have been earned.

For Prelims & Mains

For Prelims: National Credit Framework (NCrF), National Council of Vocational Education and Training (NCVET), Choice-Based Credit System (CBCS), University Grants Commission (UGC), Academic Bank of Credits (ABC), National Higher Education Qualification Framework (NHEQF), Notional learning hours

For Mains:

What is National Credit Framework (NCrF) Discuss its significance (250 Words)
What are Notional learning hours? Explain its impact on the student's life (250 Words)

Source: The Indian Express

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