It’s time to replace the UGC Act

It’s time to replace the UGC Act

Context

Replacing the UGC Act, 1956

Reforms initiated

• The HRD Ministry first saw the passage of the Indian Institutes of Management Bill, 2017, which will extend greater autonomy to the IIMs
• It followed this up with reforms in the rules and regulations of the University Grants Commission (UGC), giving autonomy to India’s best-ranked universities and colleges
• Subsequently, the Union Cabinet approved the continuation of the Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan, which has been working quietly to improve the quality of higher educational institutions in the States through outcome-based grants.

HERC

The new Act should establish a higher education regulatory commission (HERC), which will subsume the functions of all the three existing regulatory agencies under the HRD Ministry 

Advisory Council

• Recognizing the critical role of States in higher education, it should further establish an advisory council consisting of representatives of all States and the Central government.
• It must have as members leading educationists from diverse fields
• The council should advise the HERC on all matters, though the final decision-making power needs to be vested in the Commission and its different bodies.

Merging of category I and II universities

• The UGC recently issued new rules and regulations under which it divided universities into three categories: I, II and III
• Category I and II universities were awarded autonomy, with Category I universities receiving greater autonomy than Category II
• Under the Act, we propose merging Category I and Category II universities under the recent rules into a single category.

Curriculum to be adopted

• Under the proposed Act, Category I universities will be free to write their own curriculums
• In addition, they will oversee the curriculums of the colleges affiliated to them
• Autonomous colleges will write their own curriculums as well
• Category II universities and the colleges affiliated to them will adopt the curriculums of one or more Category I universities
• Colleges affiliated to these universities will adopt curriculums of colleges affiliated to Category I colleges or autonomous colleges.

Courses to be taken

• There may be courses that exist in Category II universities or in colleges affiliated to them, or courses that these institutions wish to start which do not exist in any of the autonomous universities, colleges affiliated to them, or autonomous colleges
• In such cases, the HERC will appoint a small committee of experts from the relevant field to approve or reject the proposed course in a time-bound manner.

Tasks of the Commission

This will leave the HERC with two major tasks: decisions on the disbursement of funds and accreditation

• To fulfil the first function, the HERC should have a finance board
• To discharge the second function, it should have an accreditation board

Accreditation board

• The Commission in cooperation with the accreditation board will have the responsibility to draw up standards and a grading system for colleges and universities
• Multiple accreditation agencies will be permitted, with the board serving as the approval authority for them
• Universities and colleges may be asked to deposit an accreditation fee in a fund held by the accreditation board from which accreditation agencies can be paid
• This will eliminate the need for financial dealings between the accreditation agency and the university or college being reviewed
• Matching universities and colleges with the accreditation agency may be done through a random selection by a computer.

Finance board

• The Commission in cooperation with the finance board will also develop guidelines for funding universities and colleges
• Once these are framed, the board will have autonomy in implementing them.
• The Commission must also formulate policies on tuition fees and teacher salaries
• The Act should explicitly provide for independent efforts by institutions to raise funds and even incentivise such efforts by providing matching funds via the finance board. 

Grievance redressal

• The HERC will have a secretariat to maintain a separate grievance and redress office
• The office will receive complaints from students, the faculty and university authorities
• While routine complaints can be dealt with at the level of this office, those with wider ramifications will be brought to the Commission. 

Entry of foreign institutions

The Act should lay down a clear path for the entry of foreign institutions. The top 200-300 institutions in the world, according to generally accepted rankings, may be allowed entry as Category I institutions

Integration of teaching and research

• Finally, the Act must also chart a path to integrate teaching and research
• The separation between teaching at universities and colleges and research at research councils has not served the cause of either higher education or research well
• To be motivated to do research, students must have access to state-of-the-art laboratories and opportunities to interact regularly with scholars actively engaged at the frontiers of research
• Conversely, scholars stand to benefit from interacting with young, inquisitive minds
• It is critical for this interaction to be brought to the centre of university education.