“Higher Education Commission of India” (HECI) is being proposed to replace “University Grants Commission” (UGC) oversee higher education institutions.
But there is a palpable apprehension that HECI would micromanage universities, enhance government interference and stifle campus freedoms.
What are the changes being proposed?
Education is the most potent instrument for shaping a country’s future.
Given India’s massive youth population, reframing the education system in a manner that will reflect the nation’s developmental aspirations is essential.
In this context, government has felt the need to replace the age old UGC, as it merely disperses funds, and hasn’t been able to monitor quality.
A “Higher Education Commission of India - HECI” is being proposed to replace UGC, and a bill for the same has been drafted.
HECI has been envisioned as a body to solely focus of educational quality and the dispersal of grants is likely to be done directly by the ministry.
Union Human Resource Ministry has stated that its new bill seeks to enhance autonomy to institutions and cater to the changing priorities in the sector.
While the draft bill has now been opened up for public consultations, but it has opened on a sour note as the window provided for feedback is just 10 days.
What are the issues with the draft bill?
The systemic changes envisioned by the government can very well be done by the UGC, if it is restructured in a manner that will enhance its autonomy.
While the government is planning a comprehensive overhaul, merely shielding UGC from political interference would’ve gone a long way.
Nonetheless, as the draft HECI bill is already on the ministry’s website, it is important to dwell upon at least six concerns raised by experts.
Structure - The government has vouched that it intends to minimise its interference in higher education through the new HECI bill.
But the provisions that are mentioned in the draft bill seem to indicate exactly the opposite, as they are likely to enhance government’s role.
Autonomy - Sweeping powers proposed for HECI and envisioned provisions for implementing its dictates are likely to make it very authoritative.
Under the offered new terms, universities will have to take the concurrence of the HECI before offering a course, which enhances bureaucracy.
This also restricts the freedom of a university’s “Board of Studies” and is a case of academic functions being usurped through this legislation.
Micromanaging - HECI has been constituted to improve academic standards with a specific focus on enhancing learning outcomes.
This, in addition to its touted role in evaluating the academic performance of institutions and training of teachers, is likely to lead to over-regulation.
Appointments - The draft bill mentions that HECI’s chairperson and vice-chairperson can be removed by the government for “immoral conduct”.
As “immoral conduct” can only be vaguely defined, this provision gives scope for the union government to curtail the functionality of HECI officials.
Standardisation - The “one size fits all” administrative model as furthered by the bill tends to subvert the vitality of diversity in knowledge dispersion.
Also, by not allowing institutions to evolve over time and denying the existence of specific needs, the bill is likely to corporatize the higher ed-sector.
Centralisation - The bill also has implications for federalism as it would inherently restrict the role of states in matters relating to higher education.
Strangely, despite the seriousness of this, only Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan has flagged this concern thus far.
What are the fallacies in government’s vision?
The turbulence for reforming ‘higher education’ started after our PM lamented with concern that “no Indian university features in the top 500 globally”.
But this is a misplaced concern, as higher education continues to remain a privilege in India, and is unaffordable to a big chuck of the population.
Hence, rather than getting our universities into the top 500, our priority should be towards enhancing higher education opportunities for our masses.
Additionally, standards of our higher education can’t be enhanced without improving our improving the quality of our poor school education system.
Notably, the percentage of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and Muslims who don’t have access to even basic education is still considerably large.
Hence, the quality and reach of our schooling system needs to be improved first, to nurture it as a conduit for the poor seeking upward social mobility.
Seen from this perspective, the biggest blot marring our educational system is not the dearth of top-notch universities, but its elitist outlook.
