UGC approves guidelines for short-term skill courses in HEIs

New Delhi: University Grant Commission (UGC) on Thursday approved the guidelines for the Introduction of Short-Term Skill Development Courses in Higher Educational Institutes (HEIs).

UGC Chairman Prof Mamidala Jagadesh Kumar told IANS that anyone who has passed the 10 plus 2 or eligible for admission to any undergraduate programme is a suitable candidate for the short term courses.

“The HEI shall offer credit-linked short-term skill development certificate courses of 3-6 months. The HEI shall use a credit mechanism to design the course structure," he told IANS.

Kumar said that the HEI may consider offering short-term skill development courses from the broad areas such as Artificial Intelligence, and machine learning, Artificial Intelligence, and Robotics 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.

He said that beside these courses the higher educational Institutions can also focus on 5G connectivity, Digital Fluency or Digital transformation, Industrial Automation and Robotics Process Automation (RPA), Electronic System Designs, Electronic Manufacturing and Basic Coding in Computing Languages.

Kumar said that a short-term skill development course in any stream shall be at least 12 credits and a maximum of 30 credits.

“The short-term skill development course must have a greater focus on practical learning. The HEIs may develop a plan to facilitate employment opportunities and internships for the successful students completing the short-term skill development course,” Kumar said.

He said that the higher educational institutions may collaborate with the relevant Sector Skills Councils or Awarding Bodies and industries to gain credibility, access to placement opportunities, funding schemes and training, and ensure up-to-date course content.

Kumar said that the objective of these courses is to formulate the premise for integrating skilling into higher education at all levels and for introducing short-term industry-relevant courses (Certificate courses) in the Higher Educational Institutes (HEls) to bridge the skill gap.