The University of Grants Commission (UGC) has asked all the higher educational institutions in Tamil Nadu to immediately implement the Academic Bank of Credits (ABCs) for the students and to provide clarity regarding its implementation at the training session to be hosted by the commission today, December 29. This has put the vice-chancellors of the universities in a quandary, as they are confused about whether to attend it or not.
The ABCs, which is part of the National Education Policy (NEP), will provide a variety of services including credit verification, credit accumulation, credit redemption and authentication of academic awards as reported by The New Indian Express.
To ensure effective implementation of the ABC, UGC Chairman M Jagadesh Kumar discussed its operationalisation with the universities today, December 29 at 10 am through UGC's social media handle.
The national e-governance division of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology also shared the end-to-end flow of the ABC and guide on the subject.
What ails Tamil Nadu's state universities?
However, as the state universities have been directed not to follow anything related to NEP, the vice-chancellors don't want to attend the event and sour their relationship with the state government. But at the same time, they are also worried that if they have to implement it later, they will have to face difficulties as they would know nothing about the technicalities of ABC.
"The tussle over NEP between the state and the Centre is taking a toll on the universities. It has really become difficult now to handle the situation as every day UGC sends a new circular and ignoring all those is certainly not wise," said a senior administrative official of a state university, stated The New Indian Express report.
While few others feel ABC is very crucial as UGC plans to implement it on a national basis and if they don't adapt it timely, they will lag behind other universities across the country.
As per NEP, the establishment of ABC, a national-level facility, will be a bank for academic purposes with students as academic account holders. It will enable students' mobility, give academic flexibility and allow students to choose their own learning path. "If we miss the training session, how are we going to implement this complex scheme later on if required," said a vice-chancellor.
As per UGC, the credits will have to be deposited in students' academic accounts and would have a fully defined shelf life of at least up to five years from the date of earning the credits, as stated by The New Indian Express.
