The government has convened a meeting of university officials to discuss issues pertaining to introduction of choice-based credit and grading system.

The choice-based credit or grading system, which is credit-transfer system, is followed in institutions across the globe and promotes stud- ent mobility and exposure. Under the policy, students of one institution can pursue a part of their courses in another university, from where their credits are transferred to the parent institution, which will award the degree. It will mention how many credits the student earned from each institution.

The meeting would also discuss the semester system. It was convened in the light of a recent directive of the University Grants Commission (UGC) that talked of introducing grade and semester system in all the universities of the country from the 2015-16 session. The meetings will be attended by UGC chairman Ved Prakash, senior officials from Union HRD ministry, state education minister Brishen Patel among others.

Patel said: 'The agenda of the meeting will be on how to implement the grading and choice-based credit system in universities. Feedback from universities, principals and teachers will be sought so that there is a consensus on the marking system.'?

The idea behind introducing the choice-based credit system was first discussed during the education ministers' conference in New Delhi on January 6, where Union HRD minister Smriti Irani asked the education ministers from different states to introduce choice-based credit and grading system. From Bihar, Patel had attended the meeting.

However, the biggest obstruction for universities in implementing the grading system is that varsities in Bihar are hardly prepared for the same, as most universities have not even shifted to the semester system yet. The UGC in its recent directives has asked the universities to follow the semester system, restructuring the syllabus and switching over from numerical marking to a grading system.

According to Patna University pro-vice-chancellor Ranjeet Kumar Verma, though the choice-based credit system is beneficial for students, it will be challenging for universities. He said: 'Before introducing the choice-based credit system, universities have to restructure their syllabus creating more teaching hours, which means requiring more teachers and creating infrastructure facilities.'