Unfazed by constant stream of criticism and scrutiny, HRD Minister Smriti Irani is looking for a major shakeup in college level education in India. In a major move, the umbrella body of universities and colleges in India, University Grants Commission has asked the universities across India to introduce grading system on an immediate basis. 400 universities have been directed by the UGC to include semester courses and grade system from the next academic session.

Last week, a meeting was held between the Human Resources and Development Minister Smriti Irani and state education ministers. The team arrived on this decision and by the next session, the grade system will be introduced across colleges.

Reports say that Ved Prakash, UGC Chairman has sent a written communication to all Vice Chancellors. "In order to expedite the entire process, you may consider setting up of a working group of senior faculty members of the university which can develop a time-bound action plan for the successful implementation of the schemes", the communication reportedly said.

The universities have also been asked to bring in choice-based credit system (CBCS) and credit framework for skill development (CFSD) from the academic year 2015-2016.

CBCS allows students to take up courses of their choice, undergo additional courses and earn more than required credits. This system will expose students to more options, even what is unrelated to their chosen subjects.

There will be different letters associated to grades for different brackets of scores. For example, 90.1 to 100 marks will be O, for Outstanding. 80.1 to 90 will be A+ for Excellent, 70.1 to 80 will be A for Very Good and so on and so forth.

Currently, higher educational institutes and employers assess students based on different methods of examination, like MCI and AICTE. Then the marks are converted into grades based on relative grading system.

The reform will prove to be extremely beneficial to the students as it will provide a pool of subjects to choose as an elective apart from their core subject.