No grant-giving powers to regulatory council in Bill set to replace UGC Act, Pg10

Key Highlights:

• The Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill, 2025 aims to establish an umbrella body for higher education regulation, standard-setting, and accreditation.
• The Bill does not grant grant-giving powers or fee regulation authority to the Regulatory Council.
• The Bill empowers the Regulatory Council to impose penalties ranging from Rs 10 lakh to Rs 2 crore for violations.
• The Bill seeks to repeal the UGC Act of 1956, the AICTE Act of 1987, and the NCTE Act of 1993, dissolving the UGC, AICTE, and NCTE.

Detailed Insights:

• The proposed Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan will coordinate among three councils: the Regulatory Council, the Standards Council, and the Accreditation Council.
• The National Education Policy, 2020 envisions separating funding from academic standard setting, regulation, and accreditation functions.
• The Ministry of Education will devise mechanisms for disbursing grants, keeping funding outside the purview of the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan.
• The Regulatory Council will ensure institutions attain full accreditation and autonomy, and can authorize accredited institutions to grant degrees, with the power to revoke this authorization for violations.
• The Standards Council will frame learning outcomes and academic standards for higher education programs.
• The Accreditation Council will supervise the system used to assess and accredit higher education institutions.

Key Concepts Involved:

• Accreditation: The formal process of recognizing educational institutions for meeting predetermined standards of quality.
• Autonomy: The self-governance and independence granted to higher education institutions in academic and administrative matters.
• Regulation: The act of controlling or supervising higher education institutions through rules and guidelines.