It will be called a landmark decision as the Central Government is ready to replace the apex higher education regulator body University Grants Commission (UGC) with Higher Education Commission of India (HECI). This will be done by repealing the UGC Act, 1951 and setting up HECI (Higher Education Commission of India) Act, 2018. In fact, a draft for the same has been prepared by the government. Know more.
The information about this change came from a tweet by HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar. He tweeted, “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 of the Act has already been uploaded on website by the ministry of human resource development (MHRD). Even the HRD Ministry has invited the suggestions and comments from the public on the draft before 5 pm by July 7. In the monsoon session, this draft is likely to be tabled in the Parliament.
What’s in new Act
The draft Act is meant to reform the regulatory mechanism which provides more autonomy to Higher Education institutes. This aims to promote excellence & facilitate holistic growth of the education system. It will focus on specifying learning outcomes for courses of study in higher education, laying down standards of teaching, assessment, maintenance of academic standards and many other tasks.
This new transformation will have minimum interference of government while maximum governance. As per new Act, HECI will not have grant functions and would focus only on academic matters. This will strengthen the education regulator.
Reason behind this change in Act
At present, the current commission remains preoccupied with disbursing funds to institutes. Hence, UGC has less time for other key areas like mentoring of institutes, focusing on research to be undertaken and other quality measures required in the sector. This made the need to bring some changes in the commission.
