National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) and Medhavi Skills University (MSU) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to fast-track the convergence of the skilling ecosystem with Higher Education as per the mandate of new National Education Policy 2020 (NEP 2020).
The partnership focuses on empowering the large network of NSDC Skill Training Partners across India to align, accredit and formalise their professional short-term fee-based programmes so that Academic Credits can be awarded to the candidates in line with the National Credit Framework (NCrF).
The move comes as a response to the evolving Indian skilling ecosystem and the pressing need to create pathways for seamless credit transfer and due recognition of skill-based certifications, NSDC said in a statement. There is a large student base that opts for skill-based courses / professional certifications to acquire industry-relevant skill sets for improving their employment prospects.
Many students enroll in these programmes through online Ed-Tech companies/skill development institutes over and above their formal college/university programmes, thus increasing their overall academic load. Linking the short-term courses to Academic credits will open the gateway to the seamless linkage of skills with higher education.
Under this association, MSU will work with the registered training partners of NSDC to align their short-term programmes under the National Higher Education Qualification Framework (NHEQF) or National Skills Qualification Framework (NSQF), the overarching educational frameworks duly notified by University Grant Commission (UGC) and NCVET, the regulatory bodies.
NHEQF is an outcome oriented curriculum framework formulated by the UGC with the aim of facilitating comparability and standardization of higher education qualifications at all levels wrt NCrF.
Post the programme alignment and recognition by NSDC and MSU, the candidates will be awarded Academic Credits for their short-term skill-based courses done through Ed-Tech platforms and skilling institutions, and the same would be uploaded into the Academic Bank of Credits (ABC) linked to candidate’s Digi-locker and APAAR ID (Automated Permanent Academic Account Registry), maintained by Centre.
The entire process will be integrated and digitally enabled through the Skill India Digital Hub (SDIH), a transformative initiative by NSDC & MSDE.
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