The University Grants Commission (UGC) on Thursday declared new guidelines for incorporating skill- based courses and micro credentials into HEIs across the country.

This program is lined up with the NEP 2020 and remains as one of the most significant changes towards a more adaptable and industry-relevant school system. The guidelines bridge the important gap in any issues in connecting academic instruction with useful skills needed expected by the job market for enhancing employability and cultivating lifelong learning.

The guidelines allow the Higher Education Institutions to render skill-based courses either as a part of UG and PG projects or as independent, credit-bearing choices. Students who are enrolled in such programs that are permitted to acquire up to 50 percent of their complete credits through these courses, while skill universities are allowed to allocate 60 or 70 percent of their credits to skill-based learning with prior approval. This adaptability is viewed as a groundbreaking way to education, allowing students to shape their learning as per by their career aspirations.

One of the central features is their alignment with the National Credit Framework (NCrF), which permits credits to be developed across academic, skill-based, and experiential learning. The framework also supports easy transition among numerous levels of education as well as recognition of credits across numerous domains.