bestpractices”.It saysthatthe RTE
provision(12(1)(c)) for inclusionin
privateschoolsof children frompoor
socioeconomic backgrounds was
“notquitein tunewiththe principle
of autonomy of institutions(includ-
ingforstudent admission)in this
policywhichempowersschools and
truststhemto do the rightthing”.
REDUCEDROLEFORUGC
Thedocumentsayshighereducation
mustfocuson “multidisciplinaryand
21stcenturycompetencies”.It says
the purpose of quality highereduca-
tion“is morethanthecreation of
opportunities for individualemploy-
ment”.Yet,it says,highereducation
“mustbuildexpertise thatsociety
willneedoverthe next25 yearsand
beyond”.It shouldaim“notjustto
prepare studentsfor theirfirst jobs
butalsofor theirsecond,thirdand
future jobs over their
lifetimes”. It makesan
observationon thebur-
geoningof fakecolleges
but blames it on a
“heavy-handed, mech-
anisticanddisempower-
ing”regulatorysystem.
Thedraftpolicythus
discouragestheregula-
tion of education at
everylevel,primary,sec-
ondary and higher,
thoughit intermittently
complains about the
profiteering from and
commercialisation of
education. The regulatory system
“stifled creativity and innovation”
andnurtured “mediocrity andgraft”,
it says.Public-spiritedprivatephil-
anthropicinstitutions of higheredu-
cation were discouraged, it says,
while commercial higher educa-
tionalinstitutionshadbeenallowed
to exist.
INITIATIVESINHIGHER
EDUCATION
Thedraftpolicysaysthatit is timeto
bringbackthe greatIndiantradition
of multidisciplinaryuniversities and
collgesin thetraditionof Nalanda
andTaxila.Universitiesandcolleges
in Indiaare moreor lessmultidiscip-
linary,so the draftdoesnotseemto
be sayinganything new. It talksof
phasing out single-stream higher
education institutions (HEIs) and
introducinga “liberal broad-based
multidisciplinaryeducation”as the
basisof highereducation.By 2030,
all HEIswilldevelop intooneof the
threetypesof institutions: research
universities thatwill focuson re-
searchandteaching;teachinguni-
versities where there will be
cutting-edge research;andcolleges
withhighqualityteaching, including
of the professionalandvocational.
Some5,000to 10,000autonom-
ouscollegeswillimpart“liberaledu-
cation”, the only new concept
envisaged by thepolicy,where the
stressis moreon Indiansystems to
the exclusion of the globalrepository
of liberalknowledgesystems.Public
fundingfor HEIswillbe conditional,
andtherewillbe a systemfor de-
termining such
funding.
The establishment
of the National Re-
search Foundation
(NRF)by an Actof Par-
liamentand endowed
with a corpus of
Rs.20,000 croreis one
of themainpolicyre-
commendations for
higher education. In-
terestingly, the NRF
will “on occasion
identify areas of re-
search thatareof spe-
cialimportance to the
countryand prioritise fundingto
them”,saysthe policy.It willdirectly
fund“outstandingresearchpropos-
als”andhelpseedcentres of research
in select disciplines in various uni-
versities. Thefunding, clearly, would
be discretionary.
Universities andinstitutionswill
be “encouraged andfacilitatedto ad-
dress faculty shortage by taking
measuresto attractandretainfac-
ulty,engagingwithotherinstitutions
in the vicinityto sharefaculty,invit-
ingrolling faculty of eminentand
superannuated scientists/experts/
professors from industry, making
useof talentfromthe private sector
andinviting overseas researchers,
etc.”.Thepolicyencouragesautonomy
to theextentof recommendingthat
thefeesin all professional courses
canbe leftto themanagementof
theseinstitutions,bothpublicand
private.“Regulationmustbe minim-
alistic, light but tight—to ensure
public spiritedness, equity, excel-
lence,financial stability andprobity,
alongwithgoodgovernance,”says
thedraftpolicy, referringin partto
theUniversityGrantsCommission
(UGC)which hasa twinroleof both
fundingandregulation.According
to the draft,thereshouldbe a separa-
tionof standardsetting,funding,ac-
creditation and regulation.
Independentbodieswillcarryout
thesefunctions.Whatis not statedis
thatthe governmentwillplaya cru-
cialrolein settingup these“inde-
pendentbodies”.
Settingup HEIswillbe made
easier,saysthe draft,indicatingthat
regulatory obstaclesto settingup
newuniversities willbe smoothened
away.A quasi-judicialbody,the Na-
tionalHigherEducation Regulatory
Authority(NHERA),willreplacethe
UGCas the soleregulatorfor higher
education.TheUGCwouldhence-
forthbe calledthe Higher Education
Grants Council (HEGC) withno
powersto set norms,including salary
normsin HEIs,or fundresearch,
whichwillbe the domainof the NRF.
The HEGC will focus on
scholarships.
EachHEIwillhaveto stateedu-
cationoutcomes as its goals andwill
be constantlyassessed.Whether the
natureof outcomeswilldetermine
the levelof fundingis notclear.The
NHERAwillhave the powerto shut
down,penalise or derecogniseany
HEIfoundwantingon regulation
issues.
Thepolicydocumentreflectsthe
trendsoverthe lastfive years.It legit-
imisesthepushfor privatisationin
educationat all levelsin the nameof
encouraging philanthropic institu-
tions,which hasbeenevidentfor
sometime.It pretendsto prioritise
equitybutits prescriptionsarenot
aimedat equityin education. Its ob-
jectivesare directedat creatingmore
educational institutions in the
privatesector. $PRAKASH
JAVADEKAR,former
HRDMinister.V.SUDERSHAN