PU syndicate approves implementation of academic bank of credits
The bank digitally stores the academic credits earned by students from registered higher education institutions
With the University Grants Commission (UGC) pushing for the implementation of the Academic Bank of Credits (ABC), the Panjab University (PU) syndicate has approved its implementation in the varsity.
Last year, UGC had asked all higher education institutions (HEI) to register on the ABC platform online. The commission had, in a gazette notification dated July 28, 2021, informed all HEIs about setting up of credit banks.
PU syndicate, the varsity’s executive body, deliberated on the matter on Saturday. The decision, however, will also be tabled before the PU senate, varsity’s apex governing body. The syndicate also adopted the National Academic Depository-Digilocker, in totality, along with degree templates of UG and PG courses.
A senior university official said, “It will be implemented in phases in the university and affiliated colleges. We plan to start its implementation with first year students from the next academic session.”
The ABC platform has been developed by the National e-Governance Division of the ministry of electronics and information technology under DigiLocker framework, with facility of opening academic accounts by students and onboarding of HEIs. ABC digitally stores the academic credits earned by students from registered HEIs for awarding degree, diploma and certificates.
As per the National Education Policy (NEP-2020), ABC has been envisaged to facilitate the academic mobility of the students with the freedom to study across HEIs in the country with an appropriate “credit transfer” mechanism across programmes.
It will allow academic institutions to lodge and maintain the integrity of credits, maintain the authenticity and confidentiality of student credits, digital credit transfer and faster credit recognition. ABC shall deposit credits awarded by registered institutions into students’ accounts. These credits can only be shared by the institutions and not by the student directly. Only credits submitted by an authorised institution will be accepted for storage and validation by the ABC.
