There will be short-term multi-tier credit-based modular programs with multiple entry and exit based on Indian heritage and culture to entice people around the world to visit India.
There will be short-term multi-tier credit-based modular programs with multiple entry and exit based on Indian heritage and culture to entice people around the world to visit India.
The University Grants Commission has issued draft guidelines on the introduction of courses on the heritage and culture of India for higher educational institutions with an aim to attract more international students.
According to the draft guidelines issued last March 16, there will be short-term multi-tier credit-based modular programs with multiple entry and exit based on Indian heritage and culture to entice people around the world to visit India.
Among the proposed programs are universal human values, Vedic Maths, yoga, Ayurveda, Sanskrit, Indian languages, sacrosanct religious regions located in the Indian subcontinent (the region formed by Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka), archaeological sites and monuments, heritage of India, Indian literature, Indian sculpture, and Indian music and dance forms, among others.
These courses are offered at three levels, namely introductory, intermediate, and advanced.
“India’s cultural heritage is immensely proliferated and enriched … Persons from various countries having interests in Indian heritage and knowledge system and who enrolled in such specific courses for acquiring knowledge shall be eligible for admission,” the draft guidelines read.
Each program will be 60 hours long and may be taken in a hybrid learning mode.
Respective institutions will also have to form the curriculum, considering the tradition and background of the area of study, important literature and texts concerned, the contributions of learned scholars, exercise materials, valuable excerpts from ancient texts, and basic tenets and schools of thought.
The UGC draft added that learners will receive certificates upon successfully completing the course at every level. The certificates will be made available in digital form through the National Academic Depository (NAD) of the Government of India.
The draft was in pursuance of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, which emphasizes promoting Indian heritage and culture.
India’s new education regulations also allow foreign universities to open offshore campuses in a range of courses, with at least five Australian universities opening campuses in the country soon.
