Credits limit for SWAYAM online course doubled from 20 to 40 percent by UGC
The University Grant Commission (UGC) the regulator for Higher Education in India has doubled the academic credits limit for SWAYAM online courses from 20 to 40 percent. This step will enable students to safely attend online courses and get it utilized while attending physical classes.
With the increased focus on online learning and online courses fuelled with the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown and the new National Education Policy, the UGC has taken the decision to double the credits limit.
Since New Education Policy 2020 has proposed to set up an Academic Bank of Credits (ABC), students can now safely opt for online courses and gain credits for the same. An Academic Bank of Credits will help the students to store the credit earned by studying in different educational institutes. Candidates will be awarded with a degree based on the total credits earned by them.
UGC has created an expert committee to map the existing courses and decide which MOOCs can be framed for the course. It would also check which subjects are in demand for which online courses are not available. Digital content will then be created for those courses.
UGC Official notice reads, “Keeping in mind the present situation of Covid-19, the Chairman, University Grants Commission has constituted an Expert Committee to map the existing developed MOOCs and identify gap areas where courses need to be developed under SWAYAM as per UGC model CBCS curriculum.”
Thus, in the first phase of development of MOOCs, 171 undergraduate level MOOC courses are proposed for six subjects — history, political science, commerce, sociology, public administration, and anthropology.
UGC has asked higher education institutes in India to develop high quality MOOCs in these identified areas comparable to international standards.