The Higher Education Commission will have power to give accreditation and maintain academic standard.
New Delhi: The human resource development ministry has initiated the process of reforming higher education regulation by replacing University Grants Commission (UGC) and with another regulator, Higher Education Commission.
The ministry has come out with draft regulations to create a Higher Education Commission, and has sought suggestions from all stakeholders, including educationists, teachers and public. Suggestions can be made till 7 July after which the final version will be put out.
The draft bill aims to reduce the interference of various regulatory bodies in the functioning of higher education institutions and create a single body that will have the power of giving accreditation to institutions, maintaining their academic standard and even imposing fines over non-performance.
The new bill says grants to institutions will be given by the ministry, depending on their performance. The regulator will largely focus on academic matters.
The regulator will also have powers to enforce compliance to academic standards and to order closure of sub-standard and bogus institutions. Non-compliance will result in fine or jail sentences.
Various regulators, including the UGC, the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) and the National Council for Technical Education (NCTE), have been functioning under the ministry. There was a plan to replace all these regulators with a single body but since they are different in nature, the ministry decided to modify only the UGC.
“The draft Act is in accordance with the commitment of government for reforming the regulatory systems that provide for more autonomy and facilitate holistic growth of the education system which provides more opportunities to the Indian student at affordable cost,” the draft regulation issued by the HRD ministry read.
The reform of UGC was announced in this year’s budget by finance minister Arun Jaitley. The ministry’s draft bill is in accordance with the announcement.
Transforming the regulatory authority is one of the biggest education reforms the NDA government is aiming for.