Four education reform bills tabled in Lok Sabha

Times of India, May 4, 2010
NEW DELHI: In a big step forward for higher education, HRD minister Kapil Sibal introduced four important bills in Lok Sabha amidst din caused by opposition's demand for the resignation of communications minister A Raja. The only objection came from CPM's Basudeb Acharia, who said that the Foreign Educational Institutions (regulation of entry and operations) Bill, 2010, would "distort the already elitist educational structure". But his objection was not entertained by Speaker Meira Kumar. Even Sibal said that objection at the stage of introduction was invalid.


The other three bills relate to setting up of educational tribunals, a national accreditation regulatory authority and prohibition of unfair practices in universities, technical and medical educational institutions. The foreign educational institutions bill allows foreign education providers to set up campuses in India and offer degrees. The proposed law prescribes a time-bound format for granting approval to foreign educational institutions to set up campuses in India.

They would be registered with UGC or any other regulatory body, which will scrutinize proposals of aspiring institutions as per India's priorities and advise the government whether to allow the institute to operate in the country. The bill has a provision under which the government can reject an application of a university if it feels that the venture will have an adverse impact on national security.

The Prohibition of Unfair Practices Bill makes charging of capitation fee by any medical or technical institute a cognizable offence. Sibal also introduced the Educational Tribunal Bill, 2010 that provides for setting up specialised tribunals at the Centre and the states for adjudicating matters relating to disputes in educational institutions.