New Delhi: A task force on a crucial bill for
setting up of an overarching body to regulate higher education
on Wednesday finalised the draft legislation after two-month long
consultations with various stakeholders.
The draft bill on National Commission for Higher Education
and Research (NCHER) will be brought before the Central
Advisory Board of Education, an advisory panel having state
education ministers as its members, next month.
The task force held its last meeting to finalise the draft
bill today. It has been holding consultations with
academicians and state government officials for the last two
months.
The major concerns raised by different quarters, including
state government officials, have been taken care of in the
re-drafted bill, official sources said.
The panel today discussed possibility of including health
education under the ambit of NCHER. The members felt that
further discussions should be held on the matter between the
ministries of HRD and Health. The matter will come for
discussion at CABE meeting on June 18 and 19.
The panel also discussed including the law education under
the purview of NCHER. The Bar Council of India has already
opposed inclusion of legal education under the ambit of NCHER.
Both legal and medical education being specialised areas,
there are divergent views in various quarters on whether these
disciplines would be brought under NCHER. The HRD Ministry
feels that the proposed NCHER would not regulate the
profession but would concentrate on setting standards for such
education.
There were divergent views among members on whether the
NCHER should enjoy the power of a civil court.
The government wants to finalise the bill and introduce it
in Parliament in the Monsoon Session.
PTI
