UGC asks institutions to implement Academic Bank Credits programme on an urgent basis

One of the aspects of the National Education Policy (NEP) that several students are looking forward to is the ABC programme.

ABC stands for Academic Bank Credits. This programme makes it possible for undergraduate and postgraduate degree course students to exit the course and join back within a stipulated period of time. ABC will deposit credits that are awarded by registered universities into the student's Academic Bank Account in a digital form.

But it has not yet been implemented by any degree college yet, just like several other aspects of the NEP.

Hence, the University Grants Commission has asked all higher educational institutions, including colleges and universities across India, to implement the policy on an "urgent basis", as stated in a report by News 18.

And to enhance the reach of this programme, UGC has also asked all the higher educational institutions to register themselves on the ABC portal, developed by the union government. The institutions have to upload the data of the students and the credits obtained by them after the academic year 2021-22. The students will also need to create an ABC ID.

ABC acts as a virtual storehouse of information on academic credits of students so that accordingly, degrees, diplomas or certificates can be awarded. It may be recalled that the policy allows students to earn credits from SWAYAM and other registered higher educational institutes too.

However, all is not hunky-dory with this policy. IITs have commented that they were not ready to accept credits awarded by other universities since it may hamper their standards. Some academicians have also shown reluctance to the freedom given to students of pursuing online courses and obtain credits, with the contention that it will affect classroom education and culture.