Further one of the fundamental principles of the policy that will guide the education system at large, is flexibility, so that learners can choose their learning trajectories and programmes, and thereby choose their own paths in life according to their talents and interests. A flexible education system provides students with multiple options of entering and exiting their academic programme of choice as per their needs and convenience. NEP 2020 also envisions an education system that focuses not only on academics but also on skill development through vocational education that is integrated with academic education.

In order to realize these visions of NEP 2020, the National Credit Framework (NCrF) has been developed. The NCrF provides a framework for the creditisation of all levels of learning that a student goes through. It is an amalgamation of the National Higher Education Qualification Framework (NHEQF), the National Skills Qualification Framework (NSQF) and the upcoming National Curriculum Framework (NCF). While the NHEQF, NSQF, and NCF decide the learning outcomes at each level, the NCrF decides the credit requirements as well as the notional learning hours of each of the levels. NCrF along-with NHEQF will enable multi-disciplinary education, lifelong learning, recognition of prior leaning in cohesion with multiple exit/entry, mobility across streams, national and international equivalence and comparability, multiple learning pathways, lifelong learning, ensures confidence of Public in HE System.

The Academic Bank of Credits (ABC) goes hand-in-hand with the NCrF and enables students to accumulate the credits allotted on the basis of NCrF and transfer them across courses and academic institutes. Students who wish to take a break can utilize their accumulated credits to pursue their studies after taking the break. Additionally, students who wish to transfer from one institute to another due to their interests or due to necessity, can transfer their credits through the National Academic Depository (NAD) to their institute of choice. The option of multiple entry and exit provided by NCrF and ABC is a stepping stone in ensuring that all students get access to educational opportunities and are able to pursue their studies without any hindrance.

APAAR (Automated Permanent Academic Account Registry) - In line with the NEP 2020, National Digital Education Architecture (NDEAR) has been formed as a unifying National Digital infrastructure to energize and catalyze the education ecosystem. One of the core building blocks under NDEAR is student/faculty registry. National Education Technology Forum (NETF) Cell has conceptualized an APAAR (Automated Permanent Academic Account Registry) framework to operationalize this aspect of NDEAR. Such an effort would bring together key public data & technology platforms such as All India Survey for Higher Education (AISHE), Unified District information System for Education (UDiSE), Academic Bank of Credit (ABC) etc and ensure a seamless student education journey from early childhood to an adult learner. APAAR would be an authenticated unique “Single Sign on Federated Registry” of Students/Learners, Teachers/Faculty, Educational Institutes, and skill providers across DoHE, DoSEL, MoSDE and State Govt which will be coordinated by the NETF.

In order to operationalize NCrF and ABC and to realize NEP 2020’s goal of flexible education, the Government of India formulated the following regulations which have shown promising results:

• Guidelines for Multiple Entry and Exit in Academic Programmes Offered in Higher Education Institutions was released in July 2021 to remove rigid boundaries, curtail the dropout rate, offer creative combinations of disciplines, and enable credit accumulation and transfer.
• Guidelines on Establishment and Operation of Academic Bank of Credits in Higher Education Regulations was released on 28.07.2021 and further amended on 28.12.2021 to allow students to learn at their own pace and to facilitate multiple entry and exit.
• Curriculum and Credit Framework for Undergraduate Programmes was released in December 2022 to the facilitate the adoption of flexibility for learners to move from one discipline/institution to another to enable them to have multi/interdisciplinary learning and switch to alternative modes of learning (offline, ODL, and online learning, and hybrid modes of learning).
• National Credit Framework was released in April 2023 to act as an inclusive one single meta framework to seamlessly integrate the credits earned through school education, higher education, and vocational & skill education. It provides for assignment, accumulation, storage, transfer, and redemption of credits.
• As of now 1440 Universities/INIs/HEIs are onboarded on ABC with 1.20 crore ABC ID.

3.1 Expected Outcomes of the Session

• Improved understanding of the synergy between NCrF, NHEQF, NSQF, and NCF
• Dissemination of strategies to increase ABC adoption
• Guidance for registering both institutes and students on the ABC portal
• Understanding the increasingly important role of digital public infrastructure in education
• Strategies to make higher education more flexible for learners through multiple entry and exit.

3.2 Roadmap for the Institutes

Some of the ways in which the adoption of NCrF and ABC can be increased are:

• Encouraging or mandating all institutes to adopt the NCrF by introducing the Four-Year Undergraduate Programme (FYUP) and adopting the credit system if it is not in place.
• Encouraging or mandating all institutes and students to register on the ABC portal.
• Guiding institutes on the credit allocation norms and the process of awarding the credits, storing/accumulating them, and transferring them across other institutes.
• Encouraging institutes to collaborate with each other to streamline the process of transferring credits smoother.
• Institutes can consider offering internship-embedded degrees or awarding credits for internships and apprenticeships to uphold the vocational education component of the NEP 2020.
• Institutes can consider hosting workshops and orientation for students to help them understand the Multiple Entry and Exit pathways available to them which would encourage them to register on the ABC portal.