New Delhi: The Central government has announced a complete overhaul of the apex higher education regulator, the University Grants Commission (UGC), by repealing its Act of 1956 and replacing it with a new law – one that strips away its funding role.
According to Indian Express, the Human Resource Development (HRD) ministry has proposed rechristening the higher education regulator as the Higher Education Commission of India (HECI), which will only deal with setting, maintaining and improving academic standards in universities. The grant-giving function of the body will be taken over by the ministry.
The draft law was made public on June 27 and the Modi government has sought feedback till July 7.
The re-named body, the HECI, will also have penal powers to order the closure of institutes that violate the new norms, impose fines when deemed necessary as well as provide for imprisonment up to three years, Economic Times reported.
The HECI Act, 2018 is likely be piloted in the upcoming monsoon session of the parliament, beginning from July 18.
University Grants Commission. Credit: PTI
A ministry official told Indian Express on the condition of anonymity: “Just like how the ministry funds all technical institutes like the IITs, NITs and IISERs and the AICTE focuses on maintaining standards, the government can easily take over funding of central universities. We want to downsize the regulator’s role. There won’t be any interference in the management issues of educational institutions.”
A major focus of HECI will be academic quality. As part of improving academic standards, the HECI will need to focus on improving learning outcomes, evaluate the academic performance of institutions, train teachers and promote the use of educational technology.
HECI will also be required to define standards for opening and closure of institutions, and also for appointments to critical leadership positions at all universities.
Indian Express further reported that as per the draft, all institutions approved by the UGC will need to comply with the academic standards set by HECI within three years after the new law is passed by parliament and notified by the Union government. If an institution fails to do so, it will risk revocation of approval.
According to the Economic Times report, while plans for a single regulator had reached an advanced stage, these were dropped after a May meeting chaired by the HRD minister in Mussoorie, where concerns about the feasibility of merging bodies like UGC and the All India Council for Technical Education were raised.