Integrate vocational education into Higher Education system

 National Education Policy 2020

National Education Policy 2020 was launched by the Prime Minister in July 2020. In the year following that, a number of initiatives have been taken by the DoHE-

1. For integration of Vocational education into the higher education system (a) UGC(Institutions Deemed to be University) Regulation 2019 has been amended; and (b) guidelines have been Issued by UGC and AICTE to enable Higher Education Institutions( HEIs) offer Apprenticeship/Internship embedded degree programme.
2. National Apprenticeship Training Scheme has been extended for the next five years with an outlay of Rs. 3054 crore which will make, through apprenticeship, around 9 lakh students employable. Under the scheme students will be given apprenticeship in the emerging and frontier technology such as Artificial Intelligence, drone technology, new evolving and emergent areas including expertise required for Production Linked Incentive Scheme, and PM Gati Shakti Programme of the Government.
3. Apprenticeship Scheme and Internship Embedded course will create a sustainable skilling eco-system. The scope of the National Apprenticeship Training Scheme has been broadened to give apprentices to students from humanities, commerce and science besides engineering stream.
4. In order to enable students avail internship, an Internship Portal has been launched by the AICTE. The portal currently has 12.35 lakh internships, 73 lakh students and 38,650 employers registered on it.
5. Graduate-level, master's and doctoral education in large multidisciplinary universities, while providing rigorous research-based specialization, would also provide opportunities for multidisciplinary work, including in academia, government, and industry. Accordingly, the Academic Bank of Credit was launched on 29.07.2021 by  Prime Minister. This academic bank would digitally store the academic credits earned from various recognized HEIs so that the degrees from an HEI can be awarded taking into account credits earned. The UGC has provided necessary enabling mechanism to the HEIs by way of regulations.
6. For enabling multiple entry and exit points, thus, removing currently prevalent rigid boundaries and creating new possibilities for life-long learning, guidelines on Multiple Entry /Exit in Academic Programme in Higher Education Institutions have been issued by the UGC.
7. vii. To enhance Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER), online teaching and learning is one of the options. Accordingly, UGC has notified Open Distance Learning (ODL) and Online Programmes Regulations, 2020 ; and UGC (Credit Framework for online Course through SWAYAM) Regulation 2021 which has broad-based the eligibility of HEIs to offer Online Courses, as well as enhanced the percentage of courses permitted towards credit from 20 % to 40% by using MOOCs SWAYAM.
8. To enable Institute of Eminence (IOEs) offer offshore courses (for globalization of education), UGC has amended UGC (Institution of Eminence Deemed to be Universities) Regulation.
9. For promotion of Indian Knowledge System, arts and culture a knowledge Cell has been set up in the Ministry of Education and in All India Council for Technical Education(AICTE).
10. To achieve the goal of using the mother tongue/local language as a medium of instruction, and/or offer programmes bilingually, in order to increase access and GER and also to promote the strength, usage, and vibrancy of all Indian languages, JEE (Main) and NEET (UG), the all India exams for entry in Engineering and Medical colleges, have been conducted in 12 languages in addition to English. Furthermore, the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) has given approval to nineteen engineering colleges to impart engineering courses in six Indian languages across ten states from the Academic year 2021-22.
11. AICTE has also developed a tool called "AICTE Translation Automation Al Tool" with a vision to translate English language online courses into eleven different Indian languages for access to a more significant number of students in the rural areas.

 SWAYAM

1. One hundred and fifty four (154) Universities have come on board for accepting credit transfer for courses offered through SWAYAM platform till now.
2. From the academic year 2022-23 onwards the first year courses in Arts, Commerce, and Science & Engineering are planned to be made available on SWAYAM platform in 12 languages in addition to English to help students from vernacular medium to study well and excel. Al and ML shall be used for this purpose.

 e-PGPathshala: Online Gateway of PG Courses

1. The National Mission on Education through information Communication Technology (NME-ICT) is envisaged as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme to leverage the potential of ICT, in teaching and learning process for the benefit of all the learners in Higher Education institutions at any-time anywhere mode.
2. It is one of the largest OER repositories in India having content of PG courses.
3. It provides high quality e-content for PG programmes for the benefit of the teachers and students. 
4. It also Address disparities of various kinds such as rich/poor, urban/rural, cast and religion based disparities, geographical disparities, regional disparities etc. 
5. 778 papers, with 23000 plus e- modules in 67 Subjects have been developed, out of 23 subjects covers the entire syllabus/curriculum. 
6. About 1.3 crore plus visitors including international visitors have visited the e-PG Pathshala site. The details of international visitors are: USA :- 11843, UK : - 7190, Australia:- 8615, Russia : - 13579, Pakistan : - 7215, UAE : -3924, China :- 28745, New Zealand:- 366, Japan :- 6722, Germany : 23592.
7. vii. Total YouTube subscriber on Vidya-Mitra Channel is 5,57,000 with a 63,864,531 video views. 
8. e-PGPathshala content is being used by universities for blended learning.
9. Content of the e-PG Pathshala has been distributed through I-LMS to several universities for their learning Management System. 
10. Two by-product viz. e-Pathya (Offline Access to all e-PG Videos) and e-Adhyayan (e-Books): has been developed.
11. Recently, due to COVID-19 Lockdown the ePGPathshala website has been used widely across all Universities and several Universities have used ePGPathshala content as a flip class room. 
12. xii. UGC constituted an appraisal/outcome review Committee for review of e-PG Pathshala Project in 2020. And The Committee felt that e-PG Pathshala, has proved to be very useful to faculty as well as the students as an open education resource and strongly recommended to continue this scheme and recommended that Efforts should be made to translate the courses uploaded on e-PG Pathshala Portal initially in eight regional languages viz. Hindi, Marathi, Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada, Bangla, and Gujarati.

 Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav(AKAM)

Indian Council of Historical Research is organizing countrywide seminars to identify lesser known 75 heroes, incidents, places, organizations and literature associated with national struggle for  independence for publication later on. National Book Trust is publishing 75 books covering the unknown and unsung heroes/ personalities, forgotten places and events associated with the national struggle for freedom. Besides this National Book Trust is also bringing out 75 books on the unknown personalities who have contributed shaping the country after independence. January 2022 has been assigned for celebrating Innovation Ecosystem. During this month the Innovation Cell of the Ministry will organize special programmes to showcase student innovators, providing funding and incubation support to 75 Innovative Technologies developed by students and faculty, launching 'KAPILA Campaign' for promoting Intellectual Property awareness.

 Common University Entrance Test (CUET)

The National Education Policy, 2020 recommended that the NTA will serve as a premier, expert, autonomous testing organization to conduct entrance examinations for undergraduate and graduate admissions and fellowships in higher education institutions. Accordingly, it has been decided that there will be a common entrance examination in all Central Universities, Common University Entrance Test (CUET), to be conducted by National Testing Agency (NTA) for admission into all Central Universities from the year 2022-23. This exam shall test conceptual understanding and the ability to apply knowledge and shall aim to eliminate the need for taking coaching for these exams. The process will reduce the burden on students, universities and colleges, and the entire education system.

State Eligibility Test (SET)

During the year 2021, UGC has granted accreditation to following State Nodal SET Agencies for conducting SET:-

1. Tamil Nadu-SET (Nodal Agency- Annamalai University, Annamalai Nagar, Tamil Nadu).
2. West Bengal-SET (Nodal Agency- West Bengal College Service Commission)
3. Jammu Kashmir and Ladakh-SET (Nodal Agency- University of Jammu, Jammu)

Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat

Under Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat the Ministry has launched two Mobile Apps. The first Bhasha Sangam has a collection of 100 sentences of daily conversation in 22 Indian languages and aims to teach the same to at least 75 lakh people during the AKAM period. The other Mobile App is a fun quiz game on different states of India. Both Apps allow for self testing and certificate generation.

 Unnat Bharat Abhiyan

1. To promote the higher education in the rural districts, the scheme Unnat Bharat Abhiyan has been launched to cater the rural local needs. The objective of the scheme is to engage reputed higher educational institutions (central and state; public and private) to understand and work in rural areas.
2. With the intention of enriching rural India, the Higher Educational Institutes are expected to adopt at least 5 villages and customize the available technologies as per the local needs and also to improve the implementation of existing government programs. Therefore, it may be mentioned that program focuses on enrichment of rural India through technological interventions. As of now 2897 (~2900) institutions are participating and ~ 14500 villages have been adopted by them under the scheme.
3. The Scheme has been extended for a further period of 5 years i.e. up to March 2026 at a financial outlay of Rs 48.53 Cr.

 Scholarship Schemes

The Central Sector Scheme of Scholarship for College and University Students:-

1. The EFC in its meeting held on 06-07-2021, recommended continuation of the CS
   Scheme "Scholarship for College and University Students" for next five years from 2021-22 to 2025-26 at a total cost of Rs. 1325.00 Crores.
2. For academic year 2021-22, National Scholarship Portal has been opened on 18th
   August, 2021 to receive Fresh and Renewal online application form. So far 99957 fresh and 115582 renewal number of applications has received on NSP.
3. This year (Upto November) a total 157528 number of scholarships have been disbursed to the tune of Rs 166.78 cr.

Central Sector Interest Subsidy Scheme (CSIS) & Credit  Guarantee Fund Scheme for Education Loan (CGFSEL):-

1. The EFC in its meeting held on 06-07-2021, recommended continuation of the CSIS & CGFSEL for next five years from 2021-22 to 2025-26 at a total cost of Rs. 7721.19 crore.
2. PFMS Integration of Canara Bank web portal with PFMS successfully done. Payment files being moved through the new PFMS Interface.
3. Web Portal for Claim Year 2020-21 under CSIS Scheme opened on 01.11.2021 upto31.12.2021.
4. Total Expenditure under CSIS & CGFSEL- Rs. 1623.52 crore in r/o 794694 no. of claims.

Special Scholarship Scheme for J&K

1. The EFC in its meeting held on 06-07-2021, recommended continuation of the Special Scholarship Scheme for Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh during FY 2021-22 to 2025-26 at a total cost of Rs. 1111.81 Crores.
2. This year (Upto November) a total 14665 number of scholarships have been disbursed to the tune of Rs 144 cr.

 Sindhu Central University

For establishment of Central University of UT of Ladakh an act has been passed by the Parliament in the Monsoon Session and has been notified on 13.08.2021.

 Higher Education Financing Agency

1. HEFA finances for HEIs, KVs, NVs, AIIMS and other educational institutions of the Ministry of Health.
2. To fund projects to the tune of Rs. 100,000 crores by 2022.
3. As on 30th November 2021, projects worth Rs. 43115.00 crores have been approved.
4. A loan amount of Rs. 32807.06 crores has been sanctioned and Rs. 12892.98 crores has actually been disbursed.
5. The number of educational institutions that have funding through HEFA stands at 97.

 IISER

Permanent campuses of IISER, Tirupati & IISER Berhampur will be setup with capital cost of Rs. 1137.16 crores and Rs. 1129.32 crores respectively. IISER Tirupati and Berhampur have planned to shift in permanent campuses from next year.

DEEMED TO BE UNIVERSITIES

1. During the year 2021, Morarji Desai National Institute of Yoga, 68, Ashok Road, New Delhi-110001 has been declared as Deemed to be University. Eleven proposals are under consideration.
2. Following Deemed to be Universities have been included under Section 12-B of UGC Act, 1956:

1. Sri Balaji Vidyapeeth, Mahatma Gandhi Medical College, Puducherry.
2. Vels Institute of Science, Technology & Advanced Studies (VISTAS), Pallavaram, Chennai, Tamilnadu.
3. Bharat Institute of Higher Education & Research, Chennai, Tamilnadu

3. Off-campus centre of following Deemed to be Universities have been approved.

1. S.R.M Institute of Science and Technology, Chennai, Tamilnadu.
2. ICFAI Foundation for Higher Education, Hyderabad, Telangana.

 WOMEN’S STUDIES/GENDER SENSITIZATION SECTION 

1. At present, 159 Women’s Studies Centres have been established in various Universities and Colleges under this scheme. 
2. UGC has also initiated the process for creation of excusive/independent online portal for Women’s Studies Centres. 
3. UGC has issued an advisory on 07-12-2021 for one day awareness programmes on Sexual Harassment in the Work place (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal of Sexual Harassment of Women Employees and Students in Higher Educational Institutions) Regulations, 2015, in the Universities/affiliated colleges.
4. Annual return on cases of Sexual harassment: UGC sends advisory once in a year to the Vice-Chancellors of all the Universities with the request to send the information regarding Annual Return on cases of Sexual Harassment yearly and to constitute an Internal Complaint Committee and also inform the same to their affiliated colleges with request to fill an online compliance of Gender Audit at SAKSHAM web portal. Latest advisory has been uploaded on 10-06-2021. 
5. To implement the guidelines of Gender Champions: UGC sends advisory once in a year to the Vice-Chancellors of all the Universities with the request to implement the guidelines of Gender Champions and also inform the same to their affiliated colleges with request to fill an online compliance of Gender Champion at SAKSHAM web portal. Latest advisory has been uploaded on 13-07-2021. All advisories available on UGC website, i.e. www.ugc.ac.in and saksham.ugc.ac.in.

INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION 

1. Under the Stipendium Hungaricum Programme 173 Indian students awarded in 2021.
2. Under the Indo-Israel Joint Research Programme, third party evaluation of the programme has been conducted and the report has been prepared.
3. In line with the NEP in 2021, guidelines for Internationalization of Higher Education were issued on 29.07.2021, 164 Office for International Affairs were established in Universities, whereas 156 Universities have established Alumni Connect Cell. 

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