a quarterly report by - Technopak

perspective
a quar terly repor t by
Volume 02 / 2009
| Volume 02
regulator. But all this needs a lot of work and a lot of consensus across the board and I think that once we
do that, then anybody should be able to enter. I will give you an example. Except for the central government
or the state government, nobody can set up a university and then you have the whole deemed university
concept. Why should this happen? Anybody should be able to set up a university and he should be able to
compete in a market for the quality of that degree and as long as you put a system in place it is very easy
to work it out. Once you talk about expansion and inclusiveness, it means opening up the sector, bringing
equity into the sector and not diluting quality.”
Setting up of the National Commission for Higher Education
It is been proposed to set up National Commission for Higher Education and Research, a constitutional
body like Election Commission. The Prime Minister, Leader of Opposition and Chief Justice of India will
select the chairman and the members. Regulatory bodies such as the University Grants Commission,
All India Council of Technical Education and Medical Council of India will cease to exist. The thrust is to
give full autonomy to universities which will function as self regulatory bodies and will be vested with all
academic responsibilities. They will design the function and structure of programmes, including medical
and engineering courses. The Commission will oversee the functioning of the universities and act as a
facilitator for proper growth of higher education and research.
Objectives of the National Commission for Higher Education and Research would include the following:
•Be
responsible for comprehensive, holistic evolution of higher education sector
•Strategize
and steer the expansion of higher education
•Ensure
autonomy of the universities and shield them from interference by external agencies
•Acts
as a catalyst and also as a conduit to encourage joint/cross-disciplinary programs between and
amongst universities and institutes
•Spearhead
continuous reforms and renovation in the area of higher education
•Establish
robust global connectivity and make it globally competitive while creating our own world class
standards
•Promote
greater engagement and enhance resources to state universities with an aim to bridge the divide
between the state and central universities
•Ensure
good governance, transparency and quality in higher education
•Connect
with industry and other economic sectors to promote innovations
•Devise
mechanisms for social audit processes and public feedback on its performance and its
achievements
•Devise
mechanisms for social audit processes and public feedback on its performance and
achievements
Emergence of 14 World Class Universities
The Ministry of Human Resource Development has also announced the setting up of 14 world class
universities, of which 9 are expected to be constituted under public private partnership, with an initial
budget of US$ 208 Mn. The Government commits to provide funding for all infrastructure and resources
including library, laboratory and electronic resources of world class standards on a continuing basis to
enable knowledge growth and germination of new ideas. For this initiative, a research endowment fund of
an adequate amount not less than US$48 Mn per university shall be provided by the government.
The university shall also have the freedom to source funding from all other non-governmental sources
subject to the board limitations such that funding shall not be from unverified or dubious sources or from
sources with a biased outlook. These national universities shall be kept out of the purview of the regulatory
73 | Forecasting the Financial Potential in Education