Union Cabinet Clears Bill For A Single Body To Replace UGC, AICTE, NCTE
The University Grants Commission (UGC), the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), and the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) will be replaced by a single higher education regulator soon. The Union Cabinet on Friday cleared the bill to replace various higher education bodies with a single entity.
The bill was proposed in the new National Education Policy (NEP). The bill, earlier named the Higher Education Commission of India (HECI) bill, is now called the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhikshan Bill.
Notably, the UGC oversees non-technical higher education, the AICTE oversees technical education, and the NCTE is the regulatory body for teachers’ education.
The new regulatory authority will have three major roles: regulation, accreditation, and setting professional standards.
Read also: Humanities Subjects Surge In UPSC CSE Final List; Engineering Down: Govt
The body will not have a role in funding, as the autonomy for funding is proposed to be with the administrative ministry. Also, the new regulatory body will not supervise medical and law colleges.
The initiative for a single regulatory body was taken under Dharmendra Pradhan in July 2021.
The National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 has emphasised the relevance of a single higher education regulator. As per NEP 2020, “The regulatory system needs a complete overhaul to re-energise the higher education sector and enable it to thrive.
It adds that the new system must ensure that the distinct functions assigned to it and the academic standard-setting are performed by distinct, independent, and empowered bodies.
