Pune: The UGC has set the ball rolling for the introduction of an academic credit bank, similar to that in some foreign countries, where students can accumulate points and graduate with a degree before the stipulated time.The credit bank system will also enable students from non-science courses like arts and commerce to take up science degrees after completing a bridge programme.The proposed National Academic Credit Bank (NAC-Bank) will help students plan their learning objectives and the pace at which they would like to learn, said Bhushan Patwardhan, vice-chairman of the University Grants Commission (UGC).Explaining the system, Patwardhan said, “Let’s suppose a BSc (Physics) student needs 100 credit points — 80 of which are mandatory from the core subject(s) — to finish the course. During the vacations, the student can accrue 20 points from a non-conventional or massive open online or hobby course (maybe sports, music and dance) from another institution. The student can get the required 80 credits in the core subject(s) before time and move on to the next level without spending the stipulated time in the course by redeeming the 20 points earned.”Patwardhan, who had floated the idea of the NAC-Bank earlier this month at the 3rd National Teachers’ Congress at the MIT World Peace University in Pune, said, “If this concept is accepted, it may take a few months for the NAC-Bank to become a reality.”The academic credit system is prevalent abroad. In South Korea, it enables students to earn a degree by combining credits from different systems.UGC chairman D P Singh has constituted a six-member expert committee to explore the innovative concept. The panel’s maiden meeting is slated in the last week of this month.The committee comprises R P Tiwari, chairman (member commission) and vice-chancellor of Hari Singh Gour University, Sagar, Madhya Pradesh; Indu Shahani, retired principal of H R College in Mumbai; Raj Kumar, vice-chancellor of O P Jindal Global University, Sonipat; Sandeep Sancheti, president of Association of Indian Universities (AIU) and vice-chancellor of SRM University; C M Chitale, emeritus professor, Savitribai Phule Pune University; and, Ameeta Chatterjee, former vice-chancellor of Presidency University in Kolkata.The main objective of the NAC-Bank would be to facilitate student mobility across the higher education system. “The NAC-Bank is proposed to be linked with the National Academic Depository and other students’ services,” Patwardhan said.The NAC-Bank would have students as account-holders. Like a financial institution, it would provide a variety of services to them. It will facilitate credit accumulation/accrual, credit transfers and credit redemption, besides degree authentication.Educationists believe the credit system would revolutionise the Indian education system. “The fact that Standard XII science students in India can opt for arts/commerce and not vice versa tells you something about why arts/commerce is perceived inferior in the country. In the US or Canada, students from a non-science background can do a bridge programme, complete certain number of credits and go on to enrol for science degrees. It all works on the credit system. If you can earn credits, you can turn the course of your learning in whatever direction you want,” said Brajesh Ranjan, an alumnus of Columbia Law School.“Generally, age is not a factor to go back to college (it’s again credit-based) but I suspect many higher education courses in India have an age limit,” said Ranjan, who recently left his position as a faculty member of Jindal Global Law School to pursue a doctorate in law at McGill University in Montreal.The NAC-Bank would be a digital entity promoted by the UGC. It would provide deposit accounts to students of any recognized higher education institutes (HEIs).A source in the know of developments in the UGC said opening accounts with the NAC-Bank would not be mandatory. “It would be entirely up to the students,” he said.

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