- Prelims: Current events of national importance(Different social service Schemes, UGC, Higher education institutes (HEIs), National Credit Framework (NCrF),NEP etc
- Mains GS Paper I & II: Social empowerment, development and management of social sectors/services related to Education etc.
ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS
- The total enrolment in higher education increased to nearly 33 crore in 2021-22 from 4.14 crore in the previous session, with female enrolments in the science stream outnumbering male enrolments, according to the All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE) 2021-22.
INSIGHTS ON THE ISSUE
Context
University Grants Commission (UGC)
- It is a Statutory body, Set up in 1956
- It is charged with coordination, determination and maintenance of standards of higher education.
- It provides recognition to universities in India, and disburses funds to such recognized universities and colleges.
Micro-credentials:
- They are short-duration learning activities that provide proof of specific learning outcomes validated through a standard assessment process.
- They are offered in online, physical, or hybrid modes at various levels, such as beginning, intermediate, or advanced.
- Micro-credentials are designed for life-long learners, working professionals who may not be able to attend a formal degree program in a university.
- They are still developing, with terminologies such as digital badges, micro-master degrees, nano-degrees, and online certificates being used for this short-duration learning.
- Micro-credentials are being offered by multiple players such as Atingi, Alison.com, Credly, Coursera, edX, FutureLearn, Google, Linkedin, Microsoft, PwC, and Udacity. Many universities in Australia, Canada, Europe, the United Kingdom, and the United States are also engaged in providing micro-credentials.
- Micro-credentials are emerging as a disruptive way of bridging the gap to acquire ‘just-in-time’ modern skills and competencies.
- They are evolving as the new normal in higher education due to their flexibility, accessibility, and advantages.
- Hiring practices are changing, with a tendency to prioritize skills over degrees, and the endorsement of micro-credentials is on the rise.
Formal degree programmes(Conducted by HEI’s)
- Credits’ are used to assign value to different forms of learning:
- lectures
- tutorials
- laboratory work
- seminars
- projects
- internships
- In macro-credential programmes, courses are generally designed to be of three to four credits, and one credit corresponds to one hour of lecture or two hours of lab work per week.
- In conventional educational programmes, ‘credit’ is associated with the time spent in a classroom or a lab.
Primary benefits of micro-credentials:
- They are portable and stackable on a digital platform such as the Academic Bank of Credits (ABC).
National Credit Framework (NCrF):
- It spells out learning outcomes and corresponding credits a student should accumulate in order to progress to the next level of learning.
Way Forward
- There is a need for clear quality benchmarking and a regulation of these micro-credentials to prevent significant divergences in learning outcomes and facilitate their easy endorsement in the workplace and higher education institutes.
- Micro-credentials denote a genuine acquisition of skills: They must be aligned with higher education standards in the areas of delivery, assessment, grading and the awarding of qualifications.
- Devising reliable assessment methods is critical in fostering trust in micro-credentials, and in this task, the association of HEIs is of great importance.
- For students in Indian universities, micro-credentials can open up opportunities in integrating diverse skills as a part of their regular education.
- It can store the credits on the ABC platform for redemption later or to get a separate certificate or diploma in addition to their macro-credentials.
- Depending on the duration and learning outcomes, micro-credentials can be given as between one to five credit short modules.
- Learners can accumulate multiple short modules to earn the total number of credits required to obtain a degree as specified in the NCrF.
- NCrF is being implemented across the country, it is the right time for Indian HEIs to plan to develop micro-credentials in partnership with industry.
- The NCrF offers an opportunity for HEIs to examine the development of credit-based micro-credentials as a part of regular degree programmes.
- Broader deliberations must take place on the potential impact of micro-credentials and the additional value they can create in the tertiary education system.
- Indian HEIs must serve as agents of transformation and consider introducing micro-credentials a vital element of their strategic institutional objectives.
- Regulators and HEIs must work towards harmonizing micro-credentials with existing academic programmes by coming up with clear validation metrics.
QUESTION FOR PRACTICE
National Education Policy 2020 is in line with the Sustainable Development Goals-4 (2030). It intended to restructure and re-orient the education system in India. Critically examine the statement(UPSC 2020) (200 WORDS, 10 MARKS)
