Panel wants single higher education commission

The Yashpal Committee on higher education has asked the government to change its definition of university to free it from the hands of bureaucracy, make it autonomous and have a single higher education commission, which is as powerful as the Election Commission and replaces agencies like the University Grants Commission (UGC) and Indian Medical Council.

The committee headed by the octogenarian educationist has also advocated specialised universities in areas like law and agriculture.

At a time when the government has been according deemed university status to a large number of institutions (150 in two years), the committee has asked for an immediate stop to the practice.

It has also asked for removal of barriers between the central and state universities, saying they smack of elitism. The government cannot pamper some institutions while allocating less money to the rest, it says.

As for the composition of the higher education commission, the panel says that it will be outside the control of all ministries and will be as autonomous as the Election Commission, with appointments done in a similar manner. It will also have the autonomy to decide the compensation for employees.

The chairperson and five members of the commission will be selected by a search committee comprising Prime Minister, the Leader of Opposition and the Chief Justice.

The panel’s draft report is being circulated internally in the ministry and is known to have been shared with Minister for Human Resource Development Arjun Singh, who had in August last year extended the purview of the committee from merely looking at restructuring the UGC and All-India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) to restructuring higher education itself.

The draft report is now to be discussed. The final report is expected by April-end. However, the members are not expecting much change in the final report.

The panel’s conclusions have been arrived at after extensive travel across the country and meetings with top educationists, faculty members and students in various states. “We have already heard everyone out,” a member said.

What tops the recommendations is the issue of independence of universities. The panel says universities should be self regulatory bodies to be assisted by hassle-free and transparent regulatory process. It further says that universities alone should be responsible for the academic content of professional courses.

It says professional bodies like AICTE, the National Council for Teachers Education, Medical Council of India, Council of Architecture, INC and PCI should be “divested of their academic functions, which would be restored to universities. They will continue to be there and would not meddle with the task of deciding academic content which should be left with the universities”.

Giving examples, the members point out that a Bar Council is expected to check whether a lawyer who want to practise is qualified and follows the rules. But it does not meddle with what or how something is taught in law colleges.

The committee says that institutions of excellence like the IITs and IIMs should be converted into full-fledged universities while keeping intact their unique features.