15 July, 2022, New Delhi: UGC is all set to finalise the bill to form the Higher Education Council of India (HECI). The bill was first proposed as the ‘Higher Education Council of India (Repeal of University Grants Commission Act) Bill’, in the year 2018.
As per the bill, the new higher education regulatory body will replace the University Grants Commission (UGC), the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), and the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) all at once. There will be four sub organisations under HECI — National Higher Education Regulatory Council (NHERC), National Accreditation Council (NAC), Higher Education Grants Council (HEGC), and General Education Council (GEC).
The New Education Policy (NEP) envisioned the formation of HECI in the year 2020. The aim of setting up a single centralised body to govern higher education is to minimise the fragmentation that exists currently in the education sector. The bill is set to be brought on table in the monsoon session of parliament on 18 July, 2022.
To know more about the HECI bill, students are advised to read the whole article.
HECI – Overview
| Full Form | Higher Education Council of India |
| Aim | To replace UGC, AICTE, NCTE as a single higher education regulatory body |
| Proposing Policy | National Education Policy of India 2020 (NEP) |
| Sub-organizations |
|
| Proposing Bill | ‘Higher Education Council of India (Repeal of University Grants Commission Act) Bill’ |
| Proposing Session | Monsoon Parliamentary Session, 18 July, 2022. |
HECI – Sub-Organizations
HECI is further divided into four sub-organizations to oversee the various other functions. Below is the detailed information of these four organisations in bullet points.
National Higher Education Regulatory Council (NHERC)
- NHERC will act as a financial institution for HECI. It will manage the audits, financial probity, and self-disclosure of finances.
- It will also manage the infrastructure, governance, and staff of the education sector.
- It will ensure transparency of information. NHERC will even maintain the public website and will make sure all feedback reaches the concerned authorities.
National Accreditation Council (NAC)
- NAC will act as an accreditation institute for HECI.
- It will ensure the smooth running of an accreditation system and make sure all higher education institutions achieve a certain stage of good governance, quality, and autonomy.
Higher Education Grants Council (HEGC)
- HEGC will facilitate grants to higher education institutions.
- It will make sure new study areas are launched and receive proper funds to expand and prosper.
- HEGC will also be responsible for the disbursement of scholarships to students and research faculties.
General Education Council (GEC)
- GEC will ensure the learning outcomes of the respective higher education programs.
- A framework named the National Higher Education Qualification Framework (NHEQF) will be formed by the GEC to oversee the learning outcomes.
- NHEFQ will also facilitate the integration of vocational educational courses into higher education.
- GEC will also oversee that learners acquire the specific skills their respective programmes seek to equip them with.
FAQs
Will UGC become non-functional after this bill is passed?
Yes. UGC, along with AICTE and NCTE, will no longer be active as individual higher educational bodies. They will be merged together to form the single educational regulatory body known as the Higher Education Council of India (HIC).
When will this bill be discussed in parliament?
The ‘Higher Education Council of India (Repeal of University Grants Commission Act) Bill’ will be discussed in the monsoon parliament session which is going to be held on July 18, 2022.
What are the sub-organizations of HECI?
There will be four sub-organizations of HECI—National Higher Education Regulatory Council (NHERC), National Accreditation Council (NAC), Higher Education Grants Council (HEGC), and General Education Council (GEC).
