The University Grants Commission (UGC) has launched a scheme on skills development based higher education as part of college/university education, leading to setting up of Community Colleges (CC) to serve multiple needs, including (i) career oriented education and skills to students interested in directly entering the workforce; (ii) contracted training and education programmes for local employers; (iii) high-touch remedial education for secondary school graduates not ready to enroll in traditional colleges, giving them a path to transfer to three or four year institutions; and (iv) general interest courses to the community for personal development and interest. Community College will have with multiple exits such as Diploma/Advanced Diploma under the NSQF(National Skills Qualifications Framework). The B.Voc. programme is focused on universities and colleges providing undergraduate studies which would also incorporate specific job roles and their NOSs(National Occupational Standards) along with broad based general education.
The Community College model, by and large, will be accessible to a large number of individuals of the community, offer low cost and high quality education locally, that encompasses both vocational skills development as well as traditional coursework, thereby providing opportunities to the learners to move directly to the employment sector or move into the higher education sector. It offers a flexible and open education system which also caters to community-based life-long learning needs. It has a synergistic relationship between the community, community college and the job market.
