Students to get credits for knowing Vedas, Puranas

Students will now be able to earn credits from their expertise in various aspects of the Indian Knowledge System (IKS), including Vedas and Puranas, according to the final report on the National Credit Framework (NCrf) released by the University Grants Commission (UGC) on Tuesday.

The NCrF has been launched in accordance with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 which advocates that there should be “no hard separations” between vocational and academic streams. The draft of the framework, which will bring the school education system under a credit system, was launched by the UGC in October last year.

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The framework integrates the credits earned through school education, higher education and vocational and skill education. It will cover the credits assigned on the basis of learning hours from Class 5 to PhD level. The total hours of learning per credit will be 30.

The framework also allows to “creditise” every learning, subject to its assessment. It means credits can be earned through classroom teaching/learning, laboratory work, innovation labs, sports and games, yoga, physical activities, performing arts, music, handicraft work, social work, NCC, among others.

The final report adds IKS to the list under the “special achievers” category, though it was not there in the draft document released in October.

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The final document has listed 18 major vidyas, or theoretical disciplines, and 64 kalas, applied sciences or vocational disciplines and crafts that can be considered for creditisation.

These include four subsidiary Vedas (Ayurveda - medicine, Dhanurveda - weaponry, Gandharveda - music, and Silpa - architecture), Purana, Nayaya, Mimansa, Dharmashastra, Vedanga, the six auxiliary sciences, phonetic, grammar, metre, astronomy, ritual, and philosophy.

“These formed the basis of the 18 sciences in ancient India,” the document said.

UGC chairperson M Jagadesh Kumar said the IKS option will now be offered as a part of school education.

“We are already working on integrating IKS to higher education. Now, the option will be offered to students as a part of school education as well,” he said.

This is among the various initiatives taken by the government to promote and integrate IKS in the education system. The government is already operating an IKS division in the AICTE since 2020 to promote interdisciplinary research on aspects of indigenous knowledge. The division has started centres for research purposes and to design courses in different IKS fields for students.

Among other fields eligible for creditisation along with IKS are sports and games; personalized arts; master craftsmen of heritage and traditional skills; social work in high-impact areas such as education, health care, and anti-drugs; innovation and start-ups.

The document stressed that credits must be awarded based on pre-defined learning outcomes along with criteria for special achievements.

“The special achievement could be winning medals or holding positions in national or international events, Padma or other awards conferred by central or state governments or other recognised bodies, high-impact high-priority social work which could be duly assessed through independent assessment methods,” it said.