Parliament Question: Academic Bank of Credits

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF EDUCATION DEPARTMENT OF HIGHER EDUCATION LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 227 ANSWERED ON 09/03/2026 Academic Bank of Credits †*227 Shri Omprakash Bhupalsinh Alias Pavan Rajenimbalkar: Will the Minister of EDUCATION be pleased to state: (a) the status of implementation of the provisions of Academic Bank of Credits (ABCs) and Multiple Entry-Exit under the National Education Policy (NEP), 2020 in the Universities, affiliated colleges and Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs) in Maharashtra; (b) whether the number of institutions registered and the details of credits accumulated and transferred is available on the ABCs portal, if so, the details thereof; (c) the extent to which the said provisions of ABCs have contributed to the re-enrollment and retention of students who have discontinued their studies; (d) whether the Government has carried out any periodic reviews, consultation or issued guidelines to ensure uniform and effective adoption of ABCs and Multiple Entry-Exit systems across various disciplines and universities in the said State; and (e) whether any specific timeline has been stipulated or action plan has been formulated for the full and uniform implementation of the said reforms across all State Universities and affiliated institutions in Maharashtra, if so, the details thereof? ANSWER MINISTER OF EDUCATION (SHRI DHARMENDRA PRADHAN) (a) to (e): A Statement is laid on the table of the House. *****STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (A) to (E) IN RESPECT OF LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 227 ANSWERED ON 09.03.2026 REGARDING “ACADEMIC BANK OF CREDITS” ASKED BY SHRI OMPRAKASH BHUPALSINH ALIAS PAVAN RAJENIMBALKAR”, HON’BLE MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT (a) to (e): The Government of India has framed the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 with an aim to provide holistic, multidisciplinary and flexible education which promotes lifelong learning. It aims to make education student-centric by enabling flexible curricular structures that offer multiple entry and exit points to allow learners the freedom to pursue their own academic paths. In alignment with the objectives of NEP 2020, the National Credit Framework (NCrF) has been launched as a comprehensive credit system encompassing elementary, school, higher and skill education. NCrF promotes standardisation of credits, transfer and redemption through Academic Bank of Credits (ABC) and enables multiple entry - multiple exit (MEME) pathways. Further, the University Grants Commission (UGC) has notified the “Guidelines for Multiple Entry and Exit in Academic Programmes offered in Higher Education Institutions”. The guidelines have enabled Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) to create possibilities for students to learn at their own pace, while changing the institution as per their preference, convenience, or necessity. The Academic Bank of Credit (ABC) has also been established to digitally store the academic credits earned from various recognized awarding bodies so that the degrees from an HEI can be awarded taking into account credits earned. The Ministry of Education has launched a 12-digit unique digital identity for every learner to facilitate the identification and to enable the systematic tracking of their academic and skilling journey under the ABC Scheme. This 12-digit unique id has been termed “Automated Permanent Academic Account Registry” (APAAR ID). APAAR ID is designed to accumulate credits earned from academic, skill and experiential learning. The Ministry of Education and UGC regularly consult the different stakeholders including state governments and HEIs to assess the institutional readiness, digital infrastructure requirements, and credit mobility awareness among students etc. Digital India Corporation (DIC) under the Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology is the technical partner for Ministry of Education for implementing ABC scheme. The Ministry of Education in collaboration with DIC has taken several steps to promote the adoption of the ABC through extensive outreach; including nationwide workshops, regular training sessions, and awareness campaigns for HEIs. Further, to ensure timely recording of credits, the Ministry of Education has advised all Award Granting Institutions to upload the academic records for examinations conducted in a calendar year before the month of June in the next calendar year. As on date, more than 2,600 award granting institutions from the higher education ecosystem have been registered on ABC portal. Further, over 4.6 crore APAAR IDs have been created in the higher education ecosystem, with more than 7 crore credit records mapped. In respect of the State of Maharashtra, over 350 such institutions have been registered on the ABC portal since inception, with more than 54 lakh APAAR Ids created and over 87 lakh credit records mapped. As per the information provided by HEIs on the UTSAH Portal of UGC, 244 HEIs have multiple entry provisions, while 108 HEIs have multiple exit provisions, including 38 and 16 HEIs from Maharashtra, respectively. Details of institutions registered, APAAR IDs created and credits accumulated are available on ABC dashboard at https://www.abc.gov.in/dashboard.php. *****