- By Ritesh Kumar
- Wed, 11 Oct 2023 07:07 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has announced that the Higher Education Commission of India (HECI) bill will soon be presented in Parliament. The primary objective of this legislation is to establish a single higher education regulator in India. Pradhan clarified that law and medical colleges will remain outside the purview of the HECI.
During an interview with news agency PTI, the minister outlined three key functions of the HECI, which encompass regulation, accreditation, and setting professional standards. However, the fourth aspect, namely funding, will not fall under the jurisdiction of the HECI. Pradhan emphasised that the authority over funding will remain vested in the administrative ministry.
“We will bring the HECI bill in Parliament soon…after that also there will be standing committee scrutiny but we have started comprehensive work for everything. There are three major verticals. First is regulatory role, which UGC (University Grants Commission) does…it has already started lot of internal reforms at its level,” Pradhan said as quoted by news agency PTI.
The proposed Higher Education Commission of India (HECI), as outlined in the new National Education Policy (NEP), aims to replace all three major higher education regulatory bodies, including the UGC, AICTE, and NCTE. While the UGC is responsible for overseeing non-technical higher education, the AICTE governs technical education, and the NCTE is the regulatory body for teacher education.
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The concept of the HECI had previously been discussed in the form of a draft bill. This draft bill, which sought to repeal the University Grants Commission Act and establish the Higher Education of India, was made available to the public for feedback and consultation with stakeholders in 2018. In 2021, the initiative to establish the HECI as a single higher education regulator was launched by the Union Education Minister.