New Delhi: The Higher Education Commission of India (HECI) Bill, which aims to establish a solitary higher education regulator, is expected to be presented in Parliament in the near future. However, it is important to note that medical and law colleges will not fall under its jurisdiction, as stated by Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.
HECI will fulfil three significant roles—regulation, accreditation, and establishment of professional standards. The funding, which is considered the fourth vertical, will not fall under the jurisdiction of HECI, and the authority for funding will remain with the respective administrative ministry, as stated by Pradhan in an interview with media.
He said, ‘We will bring the HECI bill in Parliament soon. After that also there will be standing committee scrutiny but we have started comprehensive work for everything. There are three major verticals. First is a regulatory role, which UGC (University Grants Commission) does. It has already started a lot of internal reforms at its level.’
‘Second is accreditation at two levels. Accreditation of colleges, and accreditation of programmes and courses. We had set up a committee under Dr Radhakrishnan for revamping the NAAC (National Assessment and Accreditation Council), it has also made recommendations. Third is setting professional standards about what will be taught and how it will be taught,’ he added.
Mentioning about funding, the education and skill development minister, however, clarified that funding will not be part of the single-window regulator. It will not go to the single-window (regulator). The funding autonomy will stay with the administrative ministry like health ministry, agriculture, science and technology or our ministry.
He also highlighted that except for medical and law colleges, all colleges will brought under the purview of the HECI.
The proposed Higher Education Commission of India (HECI), which is outlined in the newly introduced National Education Policy (NEP), aims to replace the existing bodies of the University Grants Commission (UGC), the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), and the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE).
While the UGC is responsible for overseeing non-technical higher education, the AICTE has the authority to regulate technical education, and the NCTE is in charge of teachers' education. The concept of HECI has previously been discussed in the form of a draft bill.
The draft Higher Education Commission of India (Repeal of University Grants Commission Act) Bill, 2018, which seeks to repeal the UGC Act and provides for the setting up of the Higher Education Commission of India, was put in the public domain in 2018 for feedback and consultation with stakeholders.
Renewed efforts to establish the Higher Education Commission of India (HECI) gained momentum under the leadership of Pradhan, who assumed the role of Union Minister of Education in July 2021.
The NEP-2020 document emphasizes the importance of a single higher education regulator, stating that the regulatory system requires a comprehensive overhaul to rejuvenate the higher education sector and foster its growth.
It further adds that the new system should ensure that the distinct functions of regulation, accreditation, funding, and academic standard setting are performed by distinct, independent, and empowered bodies.
According to the draft bill:
- The commission shall have the power to grant authorisation for the starting of academic operations on the basis of their compliance with norms of academic quality.
- It will also have the power to revoke authorisation granted to a higher education institution where there is a case of wilful or continuous default in compliance with the norms or regulations.
- The bill also provides for the penal provisions, which albeit graded in nature, will cover withdrawal of power to grant degrees and diplomas or direction to cease academic operations and in cases of wilful non-compliance, may result in prosecution sanction as per the Criminal Procedure Code with a punishment of imprisonment for a term which may extend up to three years.
- The commission will also specify norms and processes for fixing of fee chargeable by higher education institutions and advice the central government or the state governments, as the case may be, regarding steps to be taken for making education affordable to all.
- The commission will monitor, through a national database, all matters covering the development of emerging fields of knowledge and balanced growth of higher education institutions in all spheres and especially in the promotion of academic quality in higher education, the draft bill stated.
