Archive for the ‘NCHER’ Category
Super regulator plan for higher education may be scrapped
After putting on ice the much-hyped, low-cost tablet called Aakash, the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) is set to junk another plan to establish an autonomous “super regulator” for higher education, championed by Kapil Sibal when he was HRD minister.
There’s little enthusiasm in the present dispensation to pursue the plan for the National Commission for Higher Education and Research (NCHER), said two government officials with knowledge of the situation. M.M. Pallam Raju took over as HRD minister in October last year after a cabinet reshuffle.
Sibal, who is minister for Communications and Information Technology, as well as Law, had pushed the plan for the creation of NCHER, meant to be an overarching body overseeing higher education that would subsume existing regulators such as the University Grants Commission (UGC), the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) and National Council of Teacher Education (NCTE).
“The ministry is unwilling to pursue the NCHER plan,” said one of the two officials cited above. “There is no point scrapping functioning institutions like UGC, AICTE or NCTE.” Instead, there is a “need to strengthen them”, said this official. Neither of the two officials wanted to be named.
Lack of political support has held up several education Bills in Parliament in the last three years. Some of the pending Bills include the Education Tribunal Bill, the Prohibition of Unfair Practices Bill, the National Accreditation Regulatory Authority for Higher Educational Institutions Bill, the Foreign Educational Institutions (Regulation of Entry and Operations) Bill, 2010.
The first official said the Higher Education Research Bill, which provides for setting up NCHER, is back in the MHRD after a parliamentary committee suggested that existing regulators not be scrapped. The Bill had sought to repeal the UGC Act, 1956; the AICTE Act, 1987; and the NCTE Act, 1993.
On 3 May, the standing committee said in a report that it strongly favours “continuance of the existence of these vital bodies for effective regulation of higher and technical education”. An official said, “we have to be practical about what can be achieved and what is tough.”
The ministry believes that since nearly a dozen Bills are pending in Parliament, there is no point in pursuing those which may not come through in the next two sessions of Parliament. “In the current situation of key Bills pending in the Parliament, the ministry intends to pursue the reform through executive decisions,” the second official added.
The decision to shelve NCHER marks the second reversal for the plans pushed by Sibal when he was HRD minister during 2009-2012. Aakash, the $35 tablet that was pitched as India’s solution to bridge the divide between digital haves and have-nots, has been put in cold storage, with Pallam Raju telling reporters in March: “Let’s not get obsessed with hardware… The overall (issue) is how we enable students. Let the students decide which device is useful.” The MHRD put up a cabinet note on procuring five million more tablets in 2013, but the note has been returned to the ministry. The plan to float a fresh tender and have the device manufactured by some public sector companies has effectively been stalled, Mint reported on 23 March.
“The ministry seems to have realized that Bills and educational policies prepared in haste are not going to achieve success,” said H. Chaturvedi, Alternate President of Education Promotion Society of India, a lobby group of education institutes. “The former minister relied more on (a) few bureaucrats without having enough consultations and that’s why the Bills are facing criticism from academicians and lawmakers,” said Chaturvedi, who is also the director of Birla Institute of Management Technology in Greater Noida.
The existing regulatory system seems set to stay with some changes. On MHRD’s direction, UGC has already issued a notice for mandatory accreditation of all institutions that have either completed six years of existence or have had two batches graduate from it. Previously accreditation was voluntary and less than 20% of the 33,000 colleges are accredited currently. Unless an institution opts for accreditation, it won’t get UGC grants, as per the new guideline.
Similarly, AICTE too will put in place a mechanism for mandatory accreditation of technical institutions. This has happened even as a Bill on mandatory accreditation of educational institutes was pending in Parliament. The MHRD, too, is looking to issue an executive order to curb malpractices in educational institutions even as legislation on the subject is awaiting parliamentary approval.
Outside the ministry, there does exist support for status quo. “There is a bad system in our country that when an old institution is not doing great, the solution is (to) create a new (one),” said Pritam Singh, a former director of the Indian Institute of Management-Lucknow. “I believe AICTE and UGC are good institutions; what is required is to make them enablers of quality education than just regulators.”
Source: Mint, May 22, 2013
Foreign universities keep India entry plans in the freezer
When the Foreign Educational Institutions (Regulations of Entry and Operations) Bill was introduced in Parliament in 2010, no less than 50 foreign universities evinced interest in setting up operations in India. Two years down the line, their interest seems to have dwindled, and the reason is not hard to fathom — the Bill is still gathering dust. “Delay in passing the Bill has affected sentiments. People no longer come to us showing interest to be part of the Indian higher education system,” said an official of the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD).
“Earlier, we would receive about 10 enquiries from foreign players a month; nowadays, we hardly get any. There is a limit to which people can wait. And people who mean business will certainly not hold on for ever,” added another ministry official. MHRD officials said following the [Parliamentary] Standing Committee’s recommendations on the Bill, the ministry had finalised its view. However, it is holding on till some of the other Bills get through. “We do not know if the plans of foreign players still stand. It is the overall atmosphere that matters. Besides, right now we are not worried about the interest of foreign players. The priority is passing the Bill,” the officials said.
Several international education institutions, including Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Yale University, Virginia Tech, Columbia University, University of Southern California and University of Alabama, had earlier expressed interest to have an India presence. Meanwhile, the MHRD has reviewed certain clauses in the Foreign Education Providers (Regulation) Bill to attract more overseas institutions looking to set up shop in India.
The recommendation by the Standing Committee has led to a revision in the minimum corpus of Rs. 500 million for a foreign institution to set up campus in India. However, the corpus will not be Rs. 500 million for every institution as envisaged earlier. Instead, the corpus will be based on certain classifications. For instance, for engineering, vocational and other programmes, it could be less than Rs. 500 million whereas for medical programmes, the corpus could be more than that, which the health ministry will decide.
The norms have been tweaked after education institutions, including community colleges, vocational training institutions, professional colleges, general education institutions and medical institutions had expressed interest in setting up operations. The MHRD will also review the pre-condition that stipulates that a foreign education institution can’t utilise more than 75 per cent of the corpus fund towards development of the institution in India. The ministry might allow these institutes to invest the surplus in growth of the institution after a certain lock-in period.
“A clause in the Bill said you create a corpus, which will see an accretion. But at no point will the institutes be able to utilise more than 75 per cent for development of the institution. Besides, no part of your revenues can be repatriated. You can, however, use 100 per cent of the same for further investment on the institute,” explained an official.
Several important Bills, such as the Educational Tribunals Bill, Foreign Education Institutions (Regulation of Entry and Operations) Bill, 2010, and National Council for Higher Education and Research (NCHER), 2011, among others, are still pending before Parliament. MHRD is hopeful that some Bills will be passed in the forthcoming winter session.
Source: Business Standard, October 11, 2012
BCI not convinced by MHRD’s stand on legal education
The turf war on legal education between the Ministry of Human Resources Development (MHRD) and the Bar Council of India (BCI) remains unresolved. While it appeared last month that a consensus might have been reached, it has emerged that the demands of BCI concerning the accreditation and governance of law colleges have not been fully met by the ministry.
“The BCI… is firm on its original demand of keeping the legal education completely out of the research and higher education Bill, which is currently being examined by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on HRD,” said Ashok Parija, Chairman of BCI. BCI reiterated that legal education needs to be kept out of the National Council of Higher Education and Research (NCHER) Bill 2011.
The MHRD had said it had reached a consensus with BCI and state bar councils, Mint reported on 27 March. But Parija said the last meeting BCI had with the HRD minister was in January, where the council had made its stand clear. “Any other meeting with the minister or ministry — if it has taken place after that at all — has been without the consent of the BCI,” he said.
The tiff started almost 18 months ago when the government tried to replace BCI with a full-time panel of experts and academicians under the NCHER Bill 2011 — its proposed law to oversee all streams of higher education including legal education.
Parija said that if the ministry claims the issue has been settled it should move an amendment to the existing Bill. “Issues can only be settled if suitable amendments are made to the existing Bill, which have not been done till date. Only if such amendments are made to the existing Bill, status quo as on today regarding the function of BCI vis-à-vis legal education can be maintained,” he said. Parija said BCI has categorically stated that the Advocates Act, 1961 must be kept out of the purview of the NCHER Bill, 2011. This demand means legal education will remain with BCI without any overlapping. This is the second time the MHRD is facing a problem over the NCHER Bill. The first was when it tried unsuccessfully to oversee medical education last year.
“The BCI stand is that since the MHRD has already introduced the Bill in Parliament despite its objection, now the only option before the BCI is to argue its case in front of the standing committee and convince the various political parties to oppose the inclusion of legal education in this Bill when it comes for consideration and passing in the Lok Sabha and also when it is introduced in the Rajya Sabha,” Parija explained. “Since we are not undermining BCI, there should not be any issue,” an MHRD official said, requesting anonymity. “What we said in March was based on the ministry’s meeting with few state bar councils…. If BCI has some issues then that will be sorted out.”
The ministry said last month in a statement that BCI “shall have the powers to lay down minimum standards for grant of degree leading to professional practice”. It also said BCI will be the “designate accredited agency with respect to evaluation of minimum standards” and have the “power to determine fees to be charged from institutions” for accreditation. But the ministry also added that BCI will have to follow the norms and process of accreditation set by the government or a statutory authority.
Source: Mint, April 13, 2012
UGC may regulate distance learning
Despite an overarching body being proposed to monitor higher education, there is an ongoing tussle among the regulators with the government still unable to decide upon a regulatory body for distance education. In fact, a panel formed by the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) on the matter suggests that the University Grants Commission (UGC) would handle the task better than Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), which currently monitors distance learning.
Though the MHRD had proposed a National Commission for Higher Education and Research (NCHER), which would subsume all other regulators, including IGNOU, the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) and Medical Council of India (MCI) for distance education, it is planning to take away the regulatory powers from IGNOU and hand it over to the UGC instead.
The committee constituted almost two years ago under Centre for Development Studies Chairman NR Madhava Menon to suggest measures for regulating distance education has said that the UGC should be made responsible for maintaining the standards in the open and distance learning (ODL) system. The seven-member committee has emphasised that the position of UGC, vis-a-vis IGNOU, as a regulator, is stronger and more acceptable to the whole university system, including the open universities. At present, the Distance Education Council (DEC) of the university helps in regulating and maintaining the ODL system.
“We have submitted the report to the ministry and the idea is to have a separate organisation to govern distance education. This can be done by creating a different statute for distance learning. However, in the interim, we would suggest UGC to manage the ODL,” Menon told FE. Moreover, there is a problem of multiplicity of regulators as the DEC governs the courses offered by Ignou whereas the AICTE governs courses in technical streams and the UGC regulates other conventional courses.
Taking into account the irregularities in distance education in India, the committee has also recommended setting up an independent regulatory authority to be called the Distance Education Council of India (DECI), as reported by FE earlier. Eventually, when the National Commission for Higher Education and Research Bill is passed, DECI will get subsumed into the proposed overarching regulator along with other existing regulators like UGC, AICTE and MCI among others.
In its report to the ministry, the committee said: “The committee is aware that passing of the proposed DECI Bill may take some time. Meanwhile, the existing ambiguity and uncertainty cannot be allowed to prevail and be exploited by the foul players of the ODL system.” It added that there is a moral dilemma before the DEC in acting as a regulator of the ODL system regulating other open universities. Also, the UGC remained the regulator in respect of distance education system before the commencement and even after some years of the commencement of the IGNOU Act.
IGNOU is India’s largest open university with 4 million students in the country and 36 other countries through 21 schools of studies and a network of 67 regional centres, around 3,000 learner support centres and 67 overseas centres.
“Keeping all this in view, the committee recommends that the government should issue a policy direction or notification to UGC for assuming the responsibilities of maintaining standards in ODL system and creating a DECI-like interim authority for the purpose. Needless to say that while doing so the UGC and the interim authority will utilise the framework and resources available with the DEC working under IGNOU,” the report noted. Once the system is in place, the DECI of UGC may start the recognition of ODL institutions as per the newly developed system and enforce norms and standards laid by it in the recognised institutions.
Source: The Financial Express, April 5, 2012
Government’s dilemma over UGC chief selection
The Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) is in a dilemma on how to deal with the piquant situation that has arisen due to the ‘arbitrary’ recommendation of the search and selection committee for the appointment of a full time chairman of the University Grants Commission (UGC).
The three-member selection group of experts — Madhav Menon, Goverdhan Mehta and K Srinath Reddy — had earlier in the week forwarded a two-member panel for the prestigious position, once held by PM Manmohan Singh. The two panelists are former vice chancellor of Hyderabad University Seyed E Hasnain and director of Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore (IIM-B) Pankaj Chandra. The two were picked up from a larger panel of five.
Normally, any selection committee picks a panel of three to enable the government to make the final selection. But in this case, the search committee deliberately or inadvertently presented a fait accompli to the government and forced it to consider only a single name — that of Chandra. The ministry will find it difficult to send the other name to the department of personnel for the process to be completed as there is a vigilance inquiry pending against Hasnain and he cannot be considered till he is cleared.
In other words, the panel has given no room for the government to consider anyone else for the post. If this happens, charges of manipulation are certainly going to be made especially because Chandra’s name was not among the 80 nominations received in response to the public advertisement but was added in the final stage apparently by a panel member as “prerogative’” of the committee.
The other point being discussed is how the selection panel could not find a third name knowing that nominating a single name could lead to scrapping of the panel as HRD minister Kapil Sibal will be the first one to see the adverse legal implications of such a selection. Second, the PM will also want the process to be transparent. Third, Chandra’s selection, which is inevitable, will also mean that the UGC will be headed by someone who is not from the university system but from the IIMs, which only awards diplomas and not degrees.
The committee, which took an year to decide, has finally come out with a panel, making the government’s task difficult. The search for the chairman began in the light of the unpredictable status of the proposed higher education research bill towards establishing the National Commission on Higher Education Research (NCHER). The ministry’s view could not be ascertained as top officials were unavailable for comment.
Source: Hindustan Times, February 25, 2012
2012: Landmark year for Indian education sector?
If all goes well, 2012 could be a landmark year for the education sector. Here’s what students could look forward to.
Meta university: The proposed meta university will allow students to take courses across a network of institutions and disciplines, such as engineering with history. To begin with, the capital’s four major institutes, each with different strengths, the University of Delhi, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)-Delhi, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), and Jamia Millia Islamia, are contemplating starting a four-year course in July 2012.
Single regulatory body for higher education: A single regulator for academic and research institutions, the National Commission for Higher Education and Research (NCHER), might come into existence this year. The Higher Education and Research Bill, 2011, which proposes to set up the NCHER, was introduced in the Rajya Sabha on December 28, 2011. In short, NCHER might result in more and better choices for learners. Set to replace various regulatory bodies, the creation of the commission could lead to standardised curricula, exam patterns and spur student mobility across universities in the country, say experts.
“The commission will facilitate determination, co-ordination, maintenance and continued enhancement of standards of higher education and research including university education, vocational, technical, professional and medical education other than agricultural education,” says Vibha Puri Das, Secretary – Higher Education, Union Ministry for Human Resource Development (MHRD). Saumen Chattopadhyay, associate professor of education, JNU, says, “Students will benefit from it in many ways. At present, students are a confused lot.” They might have to do a lot of legwork to find out if the relevant approvals are in place for a correspondence course offered by a university. “There will be some kind of uniformity in curricula, exam pattern etc.,” says Chattopadhyay.
If NCHER fulfils its objectives, it could open up more avenues leading to quality education. Given the commission’s goals of assuring quality, Rahul Mullick, Partner/Executive Director at Pricewaterhouse Cooper India, says, “Many new colleges and universities are set to come up in India and the key is to make them high quality institutions. For students, this would mean choices beyond the conventional institutes and more opportunities at good colleges instead of just the limited seats in the few leading colleges or institutes. Also one of the intended aims of NCHER is to standardise a national curriculum. This is expected to allow easier student migration from one college to another without impacting their course coverage.” The aim of promoting innovation and research could stem the outflow of Indians to foreign shores to an extent. “Should NCHER be able to drive its focus on enhancing research capabilities as intended, this would mean that many students could seek research avenues in India itself instead of looking at overseas opportunities,” says Mullick.
Shift in study abroad trends: The United Kingdom is changing its student visa system in phases with the third set of changes due to take effect in April 2012 when the post study work option ends. “However, there will still be opportunities for international graduates to stay on and work in graduate level employment in the UK. This will be under Tier-2 of the points based system, with a licensed employer,” elaborates Sam Murray, Regional Communications Manager, UK Border Agency, South Asia.
The changed economic scenario of Western countries is highly likely to influence outbound-students’ decisions. Those who can’t afford to go abroad can pursue a foreign degree within the country. Overseas institutions have started trickling in, even before the passage of the Foreign Educational Institutions (Regulation of Entry and Operation), Bill.
New common admission tests: Going forward, will there be fewer entrance tests? There are court-directed moves towards a single-test regime for various streams. After an interim Supreme Court order, the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) has launched a Common Management Admission Test (CMAT) for institutes approved by it. The national-level computer-based test is to take place from February 20 to 28. However, there has been resistance to the proposed common tests.
Greater role of ICT: Expect more integration of information and communication technology into the teaching-learning process. An upgraded version of the Aakash tablet PC for students, launched in 2011, is coming soon.
Sub-division of seats in the OBC quota: The government has cleared the 4.5% sub-quota for backward minorities within the 27% other backward classes (OBC) seat quota in educational institutions. The controversial sub-quota kicks in on January 1, 2012.
More seats: Starting 2012, aspirants may see more places in higher education (HE). Vibha Puri Das says, “The XII Five Year Plan will emphasise expansion with consolidation, greater inclusion and focus on improving the quality of HE. The plan starting in 2012 is expected to be teacher-centric and student-driven. A significant target is, increasing the number of students in HE to reach a gross enrolment ratio of 30% by 2020. This would mean an additional 26 million students entering higher education by 2020.”
Source: Hindustan Times (HT Education), January 4, 2012
Law, HRD ministries fight for control of legal education
The fight for the control of legal education courses being run in 913 colleges, 260 universities and 14 national law schools across the country has turned into a turf war between the Ministry of Law and Ministry of Human Resources Development (MHRD). The apex regulator for legal profession and education in the country, the Bar Council of India (BCI) has objected to the inclusion of legal education under the National Commission for Higher Education and Research (NCHER).
Through the NCHER, the government aims to set up a super regulator, which would subsume existing regulatory bodies such as the University Grants Commission (UGC), All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) and National Council for Teachers Education (NCTE) to bring transparency in regulating higher education.
Following the cabinet’s approval, HRD minister Kapil Sibal had introduced the bill to create NCHER in the Rajya Sabha on December 27. “This Act shall apply to all the higher educational institutions and universities other than those institutions engaged mainly in agricultural education and research,” states the bill. The MHRD had overruled the objections raised by the law ministry on the issue before the matter went to the cabinet last month.
“To meet the emerging challenges of legal profession and education, a separate independent and specialised body is required. The law ministry is working towards that and had assured the parliament in this regard ” stated a ministry note signed by law minister Salman Khurshid on December 11.
In its reaction to the development, the BCI said: “It is a serious matter and we view it as an encroachment on our powers. The MHRD should have taken us into confidence,” said BCI Chairman Ashok Parija. “All option are open. We will first talk to the law ministry, which is our administrative ministry and if required, a call for a nationwide action, including a strike is not ruled out,” Parija said.
The MHRD has a different take saying many law colleges were being run by universities and excluding them from the ambit of the proposed council would have defeated the purpose of having a uniform regulator for higher education.
Source: Hindustan Times, January 4, 2012
>Academia, scholars laud setting up of education tribunals
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The proposed Educational Tribunals Bill, 2010 is likely to have a smooth passage in the Parliament with the major stakeholders — academia and scholars — supporting it since it would fast track the settlement of disputes in the higher education sector. As per the Bill, which aims to set up educational tribunals to adjudicate disputes in the higher education space, these tribunals will have all the powers and jurisdiction of civil courts which would help them to expeditiously resolve disputes involving teachers, students and institutions.
“It is a welcome move because any litigation related to academic institutions can now be put up in the tribunals. However, the tribunals should have people with both academic and judicial knowledge. With the size of the education sector increasing, we will need judgments based on both academics and the judiciary,” said S G Dhande, Director, IIT, Kanpur. The premier business schools of 
the country the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) second the thought. “Students often get distraught because there is no proper grievance redressal mechanism. Same is the case with faculty because they can’t work with an employer if they are not treated well despite a good monetory compensation. The tribunals will address these issues,” said Devi Singh, Director, IIM, Lucknow.
The tribunals will be established at both national and state levels. “Moreover, the academic calender gets disrupted sometimes because of legal cases which will not happen once the tribunals are in place,” Dhande added. University of Delhi’s Vice-Chancellor Prof. Dinesh Singh concurs: “It is a good idea to have educational tribunals as they will be more focussed and lead to efficient disposal of education related matters.” In fact, the move is also seen as a step towards the formation of an overarching regulatory body in higher education called the National Commission for Higher Education and Research (NCHER). “All these efforts are worth implementing in view of the larger goal of setting up the NCHER. The tribunals will give an opportunity to all stakeholders to speak about their grievances,” said AICTE’s acting Chairman S S Mantha.
“We need a forum for quick settlement of disputes related to exams and admissions especially when the government is letting all private and foreign education providers function in the country. These players might attract students by putting out deceiving advertisements. Hence, the tribunals must have people who are knowledgeable of academics so that complaints related to students, faculty and management,” said eminent educationist and Chairman of the Centre for Development Studies Prof. N R Madhava Menon.
However, there are certain doubts in the minds of teachers. “Though the tribunal will take care of the lag in time that courts usually are associated with, any recourse to legality outside the campus would be cut off,” said Brinda Bose, Department of English, University of Delhi. “The tribunals will be a good platform for an aggrieved student, employee or public at large to seek redressal of their grievances. It would also allow institutions to seek relief from the regulators,” said Ajit Rangnekar, Dean, Indian School of Business, Hyderabad.
Source: Financial Express, April 7, 2011
>Higher Education Reforms: Top colleges to award own degrees
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Top colleges in the country like St. Stephen’s in Delhi and St. Xavier’s in Kolkata may be allowed to give their own degrees if the recommendation of a committee set up by the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) is accepted. The ministry has in fact set up a panel to create a roadmap for implementing the recommendations of the Madhav Menon committee about autonomy in higher education — which suggested that top colleges be allowed to give degrees — and reports by committee of vice-chancellors on issues like centralized admission test.
Source: The Times of India, March 22, 2011
>PMO settles turf war between health and HRD ministries
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The Health and Human Resource Development ministries have reached a compromise on regulating medical education and research. The National Commission for Human Resources in Health (NCHRH), piloted by the Health Ministry, will set the standards for university-level medical education. On the other hand, the National Commission for Higher Education and Research (NCHER), piloted by the HRD Ministry, will set the policy guidelines for all medical research. Universities will also be free to have more exacting higher standards for which they will deal with NCHER.
The agreement brokered by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) will end the turf war between the Health and HRD ministries. This could mean that both bills could be finalised for introduction in the Budget session of parliament. There appears to be a move to bring in Rajashekharan Pillai, Vice-Chancellor of the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), as the chairperson of NCHER.
The need to apportion medical education between the two proposed regulators became necessary after HRD ministry appointed taskforce on NCHER suggested that higher education in all disciplines should be brought under the proposed over-arching regulator. The exception was agricultural education, since agriculture is a state subject. The move was opposed by Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad and Law Minister Veerappa Moily, as both medical and legal education were to be brought under the NCHER.
The Health Ministry argued medical education was linked to the provision of health services. The Health Ministry’s regulator, NCHRH, was asked to oversee the availability of well trained and competent medical personnel on the ground. This it was argued would only be possible if there had control over medical education. The NCHER task force argued since all education was governed by the varsity system and there were multi-disciplinary areas of research, all education should come under one regulator.
The difference of opinion resulted in an intense turf war. So much so, that the Prime Minister’s Office had to intervene to resolve the situation. In a series of meetings presided over by TKA Nair, Principal Secretary to the PMO, the two sides sought to work out a compromise.
Source: The Economic Times, February 16, 2011
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