UGC, AICTE, NCTE To Be Replaced As Cabinet Clears Unified Higher Education Regulator Bill | Key Points You Must Know

In a major development that is all set to redefine how universities are run in India, the Union Cabinet on Friday approved the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhikshan Bill, which intends to come up with a common regulator.
The new body is set to replace the existing statutory bodies such as the University Grants Commission (UGC), the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), and the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE).

What’s this consolidation mean?

The Bill proposes that technical, teacher education institutes would come under one umbrella, but the scope of this Bill would not include medical and law colleges. This move has been taken on the lines of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, which has suggested that a common regulatory body is required for making the governing structure in various institutions of higher education more efficient.

At present, the UGC is tasked with conducting the coordination of standards in universities and other institutions of higher learning, giving recognition and support to universities, including support in the form of fellowships for doctoral and post-doctoral research.

The AICTE is concerned with regulating educational standards in technical institutions, handling the development of graduate as well as postgraduate programs in technical and management courses, while the NCTE is concerned with regulating educational standards in teacher education institutions, ensuring standards in teacher training institutions. Herein, the three regulating bodies are set to be merged by the new bill into one single body.

How it works?

The common regulator is supposed to accomplish three significant tasks, which are regulation, accreditation, and setting professional standards. Funding, though considered the fourth pillar, is treated as the fourth pillar of higher education, but finances are still with the Ministry of Education, and the role of the common regulator is to preserve the standards.

This idea is based on a partial implementation of the vertical structure, suggested in the structure described in the NEP 2020, which suggested different bodies for learning regulations, accreditation, funding, and learning results.

The unitary regulatory body is not a new concept either. The draft form of the Higher Education Commission of India (HECI) Bill came out in the open in 2018, which aimed at replacing the UGC and making the entire higher education system centralized.

Criticisms may come later

The initiative, although, met resistance from different quarters with apprehensions regarding the idea of over-centralization, but the proposal has now been reintroduced in a more comprehensive form, namely the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhikshan Bill, which is in line with the NUPE 2020 guidelines.

The proposed piece of legislation is set to be tabled before the Parlament during the ongoing Winter Session, which is scheduled to end on December 19, 2025. The uniform regulatory body, once it is enacted, would look after the academic standards, accreditation, as well as professional standards, of the top educational institutions in the country.

This is going to prove a significant turning point in the educational system in India, making it a less complicated affair.

ALSO READ: Ms Dhoni Inspires The Youth of Parul University At Its Mission Possible 2025, Telling The Nation, “Yahan Possible Hai”