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Note4Student:

The deficiencies of UGC have been highlighted by various reports and committees. At such a time, the idea of setting up this body has come forward. Its probable a question might be asked.

Context

With an aim to simplify and consolidate the mass of regulations and compliances that currently operate in the sector, the Central Government has proposed to do away with the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) and the University Grants Commission (UGC) and replace them with a single body, tentatively titled Higher Education Empowerment Regulation Agency (HEERA).

What are UGC and AICTE?

UGC (university Grants Commission)

1. The UGC has two primary responsibilities: (a) providing funds to educational institutions; and (b) coordinating, determining and maintaining standards in institutions of higher education.
2. Its main functions are: promoting and coordinating education in universities, determining and maintaining standards for teaching, examination and research in universities, framing regulations on minimum standards for education, disbursing grants to universities and colleges, liaising between the CG, State governments and higher educational institutions, and advising the CG and State governments on possible policy measures to improve higher education in India.

AICTE (All India Council of Technical Education)

1. AICTE is a professional council constituted by the government to govern technical education in India.
2. AICTE’s objectives include: promoting quality in technical education, planning the co-ordination and development of the technical education system and regulation of technical education and maintenance of norms and standards for technical education in India.

Why does India’s higher education need a reform?

1. The idea to have a single higher education regulator is not a new one, but has been recommended by various committees set up by previous governments. While the National Knowledge Commission (2006) had recommended an independent regulatory authority for higher education, the Committee on Renovation and Rejuvenation of Higher Education (2009) had also advocated an apex regulatory body by converging multiple agencies in the field of higher education.
2. The TSR Subramanian committee, which had been tasked with coming up with a new education policy, too called for the scrapping of the UGC and AICTE.
3. The UGC Review Committee in 2014 had also recommended the commission be replaced with an apex institution named National Higher Education Authority.

What will be HEERA’s role and function?

1. HEERA is expected to eliminate the overlaps in the jurisdiction and remove irrelevant regulatory provisions.
2. It will bring the regulation of both technical and non-technical higher education institutions under one umbrella.
3. The way UGC and AICTE have been roundly criticised for their poor handling of higher education so far, HEERA is likely to be structured in a manner that addresses these deficiencies.

Advantages of HEERA:

1. The introduction of a unified regulator for both UGC and AICTE would eliminate all overlaps in jurisdiction and also do away with regulatory provisions that may no longer be relevant.
2. Sponsoring bodies of institutes of higher education would no longer be required to approach multiple authorities for clearances, which is likely to promote ease of development of institutions of higher learning.
3. HEERA is also expected to have sharper teeth than the extant AICTE and UGC: the HEERA Law is likely to empower HEERA to take strict penal action against defaulting institutions.
4. The multiple sets of rules and sub-regulations prescribed by UGC and AICTE, unfortunately, seem to have acted as a deterrent to the development of premier educational institutions would be done away with by setting up of a single body.
5. India has separated technical and non-technical education which is “outmoded and out of sync” with the rest of the world. Having a single regulator would result in better outcomes.
6. Having a single statutory body for higher education will simplify and consolidate the mass of regulations and compliances that currently operate in the sector.

Conclusion:

1. The multiple sets of rules and sub-regulations prescribed by UGC and AICTE, unfortunately, seem to have acted as a deterrent to the development of premier educational institutions. There has long been a need for change in the regime governing higher education in India.
2. The separation between the standards governing technical and non-technical education is seen as unnecessary and illusory. Therefore, the time is ripe for single unified authority for the regulation of higher education in the country.

Present situation

Though, India’s higher education sector needs reforms which are pending since long, the government’s plan to replace the University Grants Commission (UGC) and the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) with a single higher education regulator seems to have hit a roadblock with the HRD ministry putting the idea on hold.

Source

http://indianexpress.com/article/education/ugc-aicte-to-be-scrapped-replaced-by-heera-reports-4691511/

http://www.thehindu.com/education/the-heera-conundrum/article19384415.ece

http://www.thehindu.com/education/colleges/new-body-to-replace-ugc-aicte/article18730891.ece

http://www.livemint.com/Education/YitGMlErQCF6PqnJoVWnTI/HRD-plan-to-replace-UGC-AICTE-with-single-regulator-in-limb.html

Question:

Q.1) The higher education reforms in India have been pending since long. Do you think at such a time, the creation of a body like HEERA will be game changing? Examine.

Q.2) In view of the multiple sets of rules and sub-regulations prescribed by UGC and AICTE,  which have unfortunately, acted as a deterrent to the development of premier educational institutions, the time is ripe for single unified authority for the regulation of higher education in the country. In this context, discuss the advantages of HEERA, a proposed body.