On 27 June 2018, the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) has announced a major higher education reform to revamp the University Grants Commission (UGC) and set up the Higher Education Commission of India (HECI). This new Act will be placed in the upcoming monsoon session at the Parliament.
The main areas of the transformation will be guided by some principles. The Regulator’s scope will be downsized, limiting interference in the management issues of the educational institutions. This also implies more autonomy to the higher education institutions. HECI will focus only on academic matters and the HRD Ministry will carry out the grant functions.
The reform is also set to bring about transparency and merit-based decision making to maintain academic standards and quality of higher education. To further this, HECI will also work on monitoring and evaluation, continuing professional development of teachers through training programmes and use of technology in education.
To ensure quality control, HECI will also be authorised to close higher education institutions on grounds of non-compliance and impose fines or jail sentences.
News link: Modi government to dissolve UGC, set up new Higher Education Commission
To know more about the new Act, please download a copy of the draft provided below.