The Central Board of Secondary Examination (CBSE) will implement the National Credit Framework (NCrF) in the 2024-25 academic session for classes VI, IX and XI. NCrF will be extended to classes X and XII in 2025-26, and the board exam marksheet will reflect the total credits earned along with the marks obtained by each student from the next academic cycle.
“Students are required to get 40 credits in a subject within an academic year with 1200 Notional Learning Hours (NLH) in a year. Of this, 950-960 hours will be transactional in school and the rest will be allocated for activity, project work, exposure visits or any other enrichment activity that the child can carry out himself or under parents’ supervision. A child can carry out on his/her own as this is a free learning course. The marksheet too will carry the total number of credits along with the marks. In the university system, there is the Academic Bank of Credits (ABC), we are carrying out the same exercise, the benefit of credits will be extended to children in schools through the unique APAAR ID,” says Biswajit Saha, director, CBSE.
Initially, the NCrF will be rolled out for classes VI, IX and XI to make schools understand the process. “Before the start of the next academic year, they can declare the result and also include credits in the school-based marksheets. Based on that understanding in the board examinations in 2025-26, we will adopt this. Credits will reflect in the board exam mark sheet of the academic year 2025-26,” says Saha.
NLH is the time that the average student would be given to attend all classes, study for tests, and do assignments and homework. “These credits will be stored in the student's ABC, linked to their DigiLocker,” adds Saha.
According to the NCrF document, the assignment of credits is independent of the streams, subjects or any learning and is subject to achieving the prescribed learning outcomes at a particular NCrF credit level post the successful assessment. Students also have the flexibility to take 1 course/ programme/subject/project beyond 40 credits (within the curricular design) to get additional credits. For calculations under the NLH (NCrF), in general, 30 notional learning hours will be counted as one credit.
Factors influencing successful implementation
While the NCrF will give students a variety of choices in terms of selecting the subjects and activities based on their interests, aptitudes, and career goals, its successful implementation in schools will largely depend on teachers who are willing to adopt new pedagogical approaches.
The CBSE issued a notification on December 23, 2023, outlining a framework for implementing the National Credit Framework (NCrF) in schools for classes IX-XII. “The CBSE has mandated schools to increase instructional time by 25% for each academic year in classes IX and XI. Students are given a choice of subjects and activities based on their interests, aptitudes, and career goals. The impact of increased learning time on students will vary depending on the quality and type of instruction, student characteristics, and implementation factors. A meta-analytic review found that increased learning time improved literacy and math achievement when led by certified teachers, but also posed challenges like increased costs, teacher burnout, student fatigue, and reduced extracurricular activities,” says Alka Kapur, principal, Modern Public School, New Delhi.
“The NCrF emphasises learning beyond textbooks, focusing on activities, projects, and experiential learning. However, effective implementation requires teachers to adopt new pedagogical approaches, which might initially take time to adjust. Students might need to learn new time management skills to balance diverse subjects and activities. Open communication between students, parents, and teachers is crucial to address concerns and ensure a smooth transition to the new curriculum,” says Mamata Rao, principal, Tattva School, Bengaluru.