UGC publishes draft guidelines for quick skill development. The guidelines for the introduction of short-term skill development courses in higher education institutions were approved today by the University Grants Commission (UGC). The New Education Policy (NEP), 2020 has influenced the preparation of the guidelines.
This guideline’s goal is to lay the groundwork for the integration of skilling into higher education at all levels and to introduce certificate courses—short-term courses relevant to the industry—in Higher Educational Institutes (HEIs) in order to close the skills gap.
These courses will focus on practical training and offer a holistic, specialized education that will allow students to gain real-world experience.
Anybody who has passed the 10+2/senior secondary exam, or something similar, is qualified to apply to any HEI undergraduate program.
HEIs will provide credit-linked, three- to six-month certificate programs in skill development as per the draft guidelines. The course structure will be created by HEIs using a credit mechanism.
Any stream’s short-term skill development course must be at least 12 credits long and no more than 30 credits in total. The practical learning component of the short-term skill development course needs to be given more attention.
Additionally, UGC emphasized that the minimum faculty-to-student ratio in each HEI should be 1:30, and the maximum number of students allowed to enroll in a single short-term skill development course should not exceed 60 for each cohort.
The guidelines state that higher education institutions (HEIs) should think about providing short-term courses for skill development in a number of areas, including robotics, artificial intelligence, machine learning, IoT (Internet of Things)/Industrial IoT/Smart Cities, data science and analytics, cloud computing, virtual reality, augmented reality, and extended reality, cyber security and digital forensics, 5G connectivity, digital fluency/digital transformation, electronic manufacturing, robotics and automation process automation (RPA), basic coding in computing language, 3D printing, digital marketing, soft skills, health and wellness, mobile communication, mobile repairing and basic DTH installation, Yogic sciences, fashion technology.
The institutes will also be required to create a strategy for helping the successful students who complete the short-term skill development course find jobs and internships.
The guideline said, “The HEI may work with the relevant Sector Skill Councils/Awarding Bodies and industries to gain credibility, access to funding schemes, training, and placement opportunities, and ensure current course content.”
