UGC proposes initiative paving way for inter-varsity degrees

The University Grants Commission (UGC) is proposing a 'National Academic Credit Bank' in higher education and if the proposal comes through, inter-university degrees can be a reality soon, a senior UGC official said Thursday. UGC vice-chairman professor Bhushan Patwardhan, speaking on the sidelines of the ongoing three-day Training of Teachers (ToT) for Student Induction Programme (SIP)here, said the proposal was similar to that existing in some foreign universities.

The initiative proposed in the place of the current system of CBCS (credit-based choice system) would allow students to join in one university, pursue it in another university and earn a degree from a different university, a press release quoted Patwardhan as saying. This would give a lot of flexibility to the students, the release further quoted him as saying.

The UGC has appointed a committee which met a couple of times to study the proposal, the release said. The proposal was made recently in Pune and was still in deliberation stage, he said adding with the National Academic Credit Bank, inter-university degrees can be a reality in the near future in India.

"Once this goes through proper deliberations and accepted, we would like to roll it out on an experimental basis or on a pilot project basis in any one of the Universities by the academic year 2021, Patwardhan said. The current education system is teacher and institution-centric, which has to be changed. It has to become student-centric, he added.

Around 225 faculty and teachers from different institutes across Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Tamil Nadu attended the programme that included workshops and interactive sessions.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)