Higher Education Commission to soon replace UGC

A new draft was uploaded by the Central government on Wednesday to replace the higher education regulatory authority, University Grants Commission ( UGC ), with a new regulator and sought feedback from various stakeholders.

The government is set to replace the apex higher education regulator University Grants Commission (UGC) with a higher education commission by repealing the UGC Act, 1951.

Union HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar took to his twitter handle to announce the same. The tweet read, “Under the leadership of PM @narendramodi has embarked on a process of reforms of the regulatory agencies for better administration of the HE sector (sic). In a landmark decision, a draft Act for repeal of #UGC & setting up #HECI (Higher Education Commission of India) has been prepared.”

Under the leadership of PM @narendramodi has embarked on a process of reforms of the regulatory agencies for better administration of the HE sector. In a landmark decision, a draft Act for repeal of #UGC & setting up #HECI (Higher Education Commission of India) has been prepared.

— Prakash Javadekar (@PrakashJavdekar) June 27, 2018

The draft read, “The draft Act is in accordance with the commitment of govt for reforming the regulatory systems that provide more autonomy to HE institutes to promote excellence & facilitate holistic growth of the education system. The Higher Education Commission of India would focus solely on academic matters. Monetary grants would be the purview of the ministry, according to the draft. Less government and more governance, separation of grant functions, end of inspection raj, focus on academic quality, powers to enforce compliance to the academic quality standards and to order closure of sub-standard and bogus institutions are some of the highlights of the new act”.

Javadekar has asked suggestions and comments from all the all educationists, stakeholders and the general public before 5 pm on July 7 on the draft, which has been released on its website. The Act will be called the Higher Education Commission of India Act, 2018 (Repeal of University Grants Commission Act).

A single regulator for technical education, national council teachers training and UGC was in planning. However, it has been decided to strengthen the higher education regulator as it was felt that the current commission remains preoccupied with disbursing funds to institutes, it is unable to concentrate on other key areas such as mentoring institutes, focusing on research to be undertaken and other quality measures required in the sector.

Apart from the chairperson and vice-chairperson, the proposed commission will have 12 members appointed by the Central government, and its mandate would be to improve academic standards of the country.

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