Higher Education Bill in Parliament soon, says Education Minister

Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said medical and law colleges will not be under the ambit of the Higher Education Bill.

Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said the Higher Education Commission of India (HECI) Bill will be introduced in Parliament to set up a single higher education regulator but medical and law colleges will not be under the ambit of the Higher Education Bill.

Mr Pradhan said, "We will bring the HECI bill in Parliament soon, however, even after that there will be standing committee scrutiny. We have started comprehensive work for everything. The bill will look after three major verticals."

He said the HECI will have three major roles which are regulation, accreditation and setting professional standards, as reported by Indian Express.

Once it is implemented, it is expected to replace the University Grants Commission (UGC), the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) and the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE). While the UGC supervises non-technical higher education, the AICTE oversees technical education and the NCTE is the regulatory body for teachers' education.

The fourth vertical Funding will not come under the HECI bill and the autonomy for funding will stay with the administrative ministry, said the Education Minister.

A draft Higher Education Commission of India (Repeal of University Grants Commission Act) Bill, 2018, which seeks to repeal the UGC Act and provides for the setting up of the Higher Education Commission of India, was put in the public domain in 2018 for feedback and consultation with stakeholders. After assuming power as the Education minister in 2021, the union education minister undertook renewed efforts to implement the HECI bill.

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