A makeover in Indian Higher Education system seems likely.A proposal to strengthen the University Grants Commission (UGC)’s Rules governing higher educational institutes was deliberated upon in a meeting of the Ministry of Human Resource Development in New Delhi.
The meeting ended approving the Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA),on October 3.
In fact,the need to revise the UGC’s Rules comes after widespread criticism in public that the body is beginning to lose its sheen by failing to uplift the state of higher education in India,.As it is,UGC is the statutory body,in-charge of coordination, determination and maintenance of standards of university level education in the country.
As per the suggestions of Yashpal Committee report,New Education Management ought to separate the UGC’s funding power and its responsibility to set educational standard of the universities across India.
“So RUSA was approved.Its aim would be to give more teeth to the body with the strengthening of its rules and provisions,” said an official in the HRD Ministry.
RUSA program facilitates the Centre to transfer funds to the states directly.In the current arrangment,UGC does so on behalf of the Centre.Secondly,RUSA has the mandate to improve the overall quality of existing state higher educational institutions by ensuring conformity to prescribed norms and standards and adoption of accreditation as a mandatory quality assurance framework.
If this happens,UGC is certain to get marginalised and the RUSA under HRD Ministry will become the nodal body.
