Education ministry to seek public views on credit framework starting today

he Centre will release the draft of the National Credit Framework (NCrF) on Wednesday and start the process of seeking public consultation on the same, the union ministry of education announced

The Centre will release the draft of the National Credit Framework (NCrF) on Wednesday and start the process of seeking public consultation on the same, the union ministry of education announced on Tuesday.

New Delhi, Oct 18 (ANI): Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan calls on Vice President Jagdeep Dhankar, at Upa-Rashtrapati Nivas, in New Delhi on Tuesday. (ANI Photo) (ANI)

The decision was taken during a meeting chaired by union minister of education Dharmendra Pradhan with the committee preparing the National Credit Framework that will integrate school, higher and vocational education on Tuesday. “Pradhan gave his consent to start the process of public consultation on the National Credit Framework from tomorrow i.e. 19th October, 2022,” the ministry said in a statement.

HT had in August reported a high-level committee constituted last year to develop the framework has finalized its draft report.

“The draft of the NCrF will also be released in public domain on Wednesday. Stakeholders will ask to send their suggestions on the same,” said a senior ministry official.

While a credit-based framework is already in place in technical and higher education, it will be the first time that school and vocational education will be included in it.

The University Grants Commission, India’s higher education regulator, last year launched an Academic Bank of Credit (ABC) for higher education. The ABC works as a digital repository of credits earned by students. So far, it is limited to higher education.

Under the proposed framework, the ABC will be expanded and linked to DigiLocker, the online digitization service provided by the electronics and IT ministry. Currently, DigiLocker can be used to store academic records of students by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and other state education boards.

The NCrF will be launched as a part of the implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, which advocates that there should be “no hard separations” between vocational and academic streams. The policy also states that at least 50% of learners through the school and higher education system shall have exposure to vocational education till 2025.