Education Ministry drafting bill for establishment of integrated body of higher education: MoS in Lok Sabha

The Education Ministry is finalizing a bill for establishment of the Higher Education Commission of India (HECI) — a much-debated proposed single regulator of higher education, Minister of State for Education Sukanta Majumdar informed the Lok Sabha on Monday.

In a response letter, Majumdar has stated that the decision conforms to the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 that enunciates a "light but tight" governance model. The model aims to promote transparency, efficiency, and accountability and institutional autonomy, innovation, and good governance.

As was contemplated under the NEP 2020, the HECI would be a horizontal umbrella body with distinct verticals for regulation, accreditation, finance, and research quality. The above commission is to supersede existing regulators like the University Grants Commission (UGC), All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), and National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE).

UGC. oversees non-technical education, whereas AICTE oversees academic institutions and NCTE oversees school teacher training. For the first time in a 2018 draft bill to substitute the UGC Act, it was recommended to have all these functions vested under one regulator. The said bill was later released for public hearing by way of release.

Efforts to introduce the HECI intensified once more under Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, who was sworn in back in July 2021.

NEP 2020 has yet again asserted that the current regulatory framework must be remade from scratch so that India's higher education system can be revitalized and endowed with the ability to meet the challenges of times and global standards.