Higher education agenda to be cleared today

NEW DELHI: THE Union Cabinet is expected to give its approval for three education bills — Prohibition of Unfair Practices in Technical, Medical Educational Institutions and Universities Bill, The National Education Tribunals Bill and the National Authority for Regulation in Accreditation of Higher Educational Institutions Bill. These bills form the basis of the government’s higher education reform agenda. All the three bills were referred to and cleared by a group of ministers headed by agriculture minister Sharad Pawar.

The Prohibition of Unfair Practices in Technical, Medical Educational Institutions and Universities Bill will empower the Centre to initiate criminal proceedings against even private institutes that charge capitation fee or cheat students through other ‘unfair practices’ such as over-pricing of prospectus, false claims in advertisements and brochures.

Stiff penalties and fines against errant institutes have been proposed in the legislation. Unfair practices will attract both civil and criminal action. Malpractices will attract a fine of Rs 50 lakh and imprisonment for three years. Criminal complaints would attract fines in the range of Rs 50,000 to Rs 3 lakh and imprisonment of one month to a year.

The National Educational Tribunal Bill provides for a three-tier system. It would deal with all disputes between students and institutions, teachers and institutions. At the bottom of this three-tier structure is the district educational tribunal.

The proposal is to set up a tribunal in each district, so that complaints from the area can be heard. The tribunal will have the power to deal with grievances of faculty and employees against the management or governing body. The district tribunal can be approached once the complainant has exhausted all existing remedies.

The National Authority for Regulation in Accreditation of Higher Educational Institutions Bill would make it mandatory for higher education institutes to be accredited. At present accreditation is voluntary.