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Agencies mooted for professional education

Aarti Dhar

NEW DELHI: The Administrative Reforms Commission (ARC) has suggested abolishing the All-India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) and setting up of special agencies for higher and professional education.

Professional education should be separated from the domain of the existing regulatory bodies and handed over to specially created agencies – National Standards and Quality Councils for Medicine, Management and other streams – while the existing regulatory bodies would remain confined to issues concerning registration, skill upgradation and management of professional standards and ethics.

In its Ninth report on “Social Capital – A Shared Destiny,” released here on Tuesday, the Second ARC has said that the new professional councils should be created by law and their role should be to lay down norms, standards and parameters on issues concerning growth and development of their stream, including the setting up of new institutions, designing and updating curriculum, faculty improvement and carrying out research and other key issues concerning the stream.

Releasing the report, Commission chairperson M. Veerappa Moily said these councils should have full autonomy with the highest decision-making body having a majority of independent members with just two or three members drawn from the government who could be there in an ex-officio capacity.

“Within such norms, standards and parameters, the universities and autonomous institutions should be given full autonomy for setting up and running institutions under jurisdiction,” Mr. Moily said while endorsing the recommendations of the National Knowledge Commission regarding reforms in the structure, governance and functioning of universities.

Degeneration

The process of appointment of Vice-Chancellors should be free from direct or indirect interference of the government and they should be given a fixed tenure and adequate authority and flexibility to govern the universities with the advice and consent of the Executive Council. “The Commission feels there is lot of degeneration of higher education and thus universities should have more power. Autonomy can improve merit and efficiency,” he said.

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