New Delhi: The setting up of the National
Commission for Higher Education and Research (NCHER) could
spell death knell for deemed universities which would now be
required to pass through tough entry barriers to become
full-fledged universities.
HRD Minister Kapil Sibal had earlier said that the
government wants to put an end to the practice of conferring
deemed university status to institutions.
The step assumes significance in view of findings of
several committees that many of such institutes do not deserve
the status.
The committee on `Renovation and Rejuvenation of Higher
Education` has said that majority of these institutes delude
students and the status should be withdrawn if they fail to
fulfill the accreditation norms in three years. It said such
institutions are not established with educational purpose.
The ministry has prepared a draft NCHER bill and has
circulated it among the taskforce which has been constituted
to suggest how the proposed overarching body could be started
and how to ensure a smooth transition from the present
framework to the proposed one, official sources said.
There are 130 deemed universities of which about 60 came
up in the last five years. The deemed university status is
awarded under Section-3 of the UGC Act.
The NCHER will subsume the UGC and other regulatory
bodies in higher education and set tougher entry barriers for
conferring university status to institutes.
Bureau Report
