27,000 Plus Colleges, Institutes Needed: Sibal

New Delhi, Nov 7: More than 27,000 new colleges or other higher learning institutions are required to meet the targeted 30 per cent Gross Enrolment Ratio by 2020, a Parliamentary panel was told today.

The figure includes 14,000 colleges of general higher education, 12,775 technical and professional institutions and 269 universities, Human Resource Development Ministry reported.

The Consultative Committee for the HRD Ministry chaired by HRD Minister Kapil Sibal focused on Expansion of Higher Education.

Minister of State for HRD D Purandeswari attended.

The Ministry submitted that in formulating its policy it is guided by the 1986 National Policy on Education as amended in 1992.

It cited steps to enhance public spending on higher education, including ''incentivising'' State governments, and encourage private investment without compromising on NPE framework and through philanthropy.

Members were given an outline of proposed Higher Education legislations.

Sibal urged Members' ''collaboration'' in education so that India can become a world power by 2020.

Members raised questions about adequate regulatory framework for private participation in education sector, foreign universities' profit orientation and incentives to citizens to enter teaching.

They also voiced concern over faculty inadequacies in State universities and colleges and proliferation of technical institutions.

They asked if the government contemplated a large-scale programme for higher education along the lines of its elementary education campaign, Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan.

One Member stressed a meeting with academicians and debate before creating an over-arching body for higher education.

Another Member suggested setting up Chairs for specialised studies on Central Asian countries and other parts of the world to produce adequate scholarship on these areas.

A third Member wanted indigenous knowledge made part of university curriculum and a fourth Member was against tampering with such long-standing institutions as All India Council For Technical Education and University Grants Commission.

Sibal assured Members that the mandate of the proposed overarching body would be to enforce quality and good governance procedures in higher education institutions. He stressed a regulatory framework for higher education.

Sibal said the National Knowledge Commission which recommended the overarching body for higher education as well as the Yashpal Committee, which endorsed it, had done ''extensive rounds of consultations with stakeholders and academicians.'' Sibal said financial constraints won't allow an SSA type higher education campaign.

He said the Centre would build new Central Universities, degree colleges in educationally backward districts and incentivise State governments to expand higher education.

But the State governments themselves also have to look for private investment.

He said when foreign universities come to India they would not be allowed to make profits through tuition fees. Even in the West, he said, universities depend on endowments for a larger percentage of their finances.

He said India needed to set up a world class institute in Humanities.

He said salaries for teaching faculties have been raised substantially to make the profession more lucrative.

The Members of Parliament present included Chinta Mohan, Jagdanand Singh, Ganeshrao N Dudhgaonkar, Dr M Thambi Durai, Prem Das Rai, Madan Lal Sharma, Bijayanta ‘Jai’ Panda, Mrs Rama Devi, Sucharu Ranjan Haldar, Dr Ranjan Prasad Yadav, Mrs Vasanthi Stanley, Dr Kapila Vatsyayan and Dr Prabhakar Kore.

School Education and Literacy Secretay Anshu Vaish, UGC Chairman Sukhadeo Thorat and other senior HRD officials were present.

--UNI

(c) 2009 Published with permission from United News of India.
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