The Centre government on Wednesday announced to replace the apex higher education regulator body University Grants Commission (UGC) with the Higher Education Commission of India (HECI) by canceling the UGC Act, 1951.
"In a landmark decision, a draft Act for repeal of #UGC & setting up #HECI (Higher Education Commission of India) has been prepared," tweeted Union HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar.
He said the draft act is in accordance with the commitment of the government to reform the regulatory mechanism to provide "more autonomy" to higher education institutes to promote excellence and facilitate holistic growth of the education system.
According to the draft, the proposed Higher Education Commission of India would focus on academic matters and monetary grants would be under the purview of the ministry.
Presently, The University Grants Commission (UGC), provides financial assistance to eligible colleges, which came into existence in 1953.
The new Act will be called the Higher Education Commission of India Act, 2018.
The HRD Ministry has asked for comments and suggestions from educationists, public and other stakeholders before 5 pm on July 7 on the draft, which has been released on its website.
The new Act is likely to be tabled in the Parliament during the monsoon session.
The government has decided to strengthen the higher education regulator as it was felt that the current commission remains preoccupied with disbursing funds to institutes and 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.
(with PTI inputs)
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