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- Government has taken various steps for expansion and improving quality of higher education during the XI Five Year Plan, which include setting up of:
- 15 new Central Universities, including conversion of 3 States Universities into Central Universities,
- 8 new Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs),
- 7 new Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs),
- 5 new Indian Institutes of Science Education & Research (IISERs),
- 2 new schools of Planning & Architecture (SPAs),
- 10 new National Institutes of Technology (NITs),
- 20 new Indian Institutes of Information Technology (IITs) in Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode
- 374 Model Colleges in Educationally Backward Districts.
- For quality enhancement, several initiatives have been taken:
- National Mission on Education through Information Communication and Technology,
- Examination Reforms,
- increasing Research Fellowships,
- Technical Education Quality Improvement Programme (TEQIP)
- Mandatory Accreditation of Higher Educational Institutions,
- setting up Educational Tribunals,
- Prohibition of Unfair Practices in Higher & Technical institutions,
- setting up National Commission on Higher Education and Research (NCHER)
- setting up of Innovation Universities,
- NET/SET qualifications have been laid down for improving quality of faculty.
NCHER Bill
- The Central Government had proposed to set up
- National Commission for Higher Education and Research (NCHER) under the Ministry of Human Resource Development for higher education
with a dual purpose of reforming the current regulatory framework and enhancing the supply of skilled manpower in the health sector.
- State governments are arguing that this is leading towards centralization of power and is taking away their autonomy of approving institutions through legislation and appointment of Vice-chancellors.
- Agriculture being a state subject cannot be covered under a Central law and Health Ministry opposed inclusion of medical in NCHER.
- But the debates are focusing on should professional field like medicine would be under the NCHER umbrella or not? There is also a discussion to delink the funding mechanism with the regulatory powers where NCHER will focus on regulation and there will be a separate body overseeing funding process for institutions.
- The primary purpose for NCHER bill is to ensure quality and accountability in higher education.
- The most important critique of the bill is that it has not leveraged the power of transparency in bringing accountability and improving quality.
- For example, the bill states vaguely that the Commission would "monitor, through a national database, all matters concerning the development of emerging fields of knowledge, balanced growth of higher educational institutions in all spheres and academic quality in higher education and research"
- Let us consider the case of regulation in financial system. How is transparency ensured in publicly traded companies?
- Apart from the regulator (SEBI) there is easy availability of audited financial reports of organizations. But there is no availability of parallel information of institutional performance in higher education. Further, the primary role of SEBI is to "...to protect the interests of investors in securities" while protecting the interests of students does not seems to be on the priority for NCHER.
- For example, in the US, "The National Center for Education Statistics fulfills a Congressional mandate to collect, collate, analyze, and report complete statistics on the condition of American education; conduct and publish reports; and review and report on education activities internationally."
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