On Friday, November 12, the Union Cabinet on cleared a bill to replace various higher education bodies with a single entity. The single regulator will replace University Grants Commission (UGC), the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) and the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE).
Currently, UGC oversees non-technical higher education, AICTE oversees technical education, while NCTE regulates teachers’ education.
The bill, which was earlier called Higher Education Commission of India (HECI) Bill, has now been renamed the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhikshan Bill. The bill was initially proposed in the New Education Policy (NEP 2020) which had stated that the regulatory system is in need of a complete overhaul.
The new regulator will have three major roles of regulation, accreditation and setting professional standards in higher education. Medical and Law will not be part of the scope of the regulator. Funding for the education will also not be in the scope of the regulator.
The bill has been brought in to streamline the standards in higher education.
