UGC, AICTE, NCTE to be Replaced; Talks for Single Regulator for Higher Education Underway

After announcing the formation of bodies like the National Testing Agency ( NTA ), the Government of India is all set to take the next big step within the education sector.The government is planning to do away with the two major education regulatory bodies i.e. the All India Council for Technical Education ( AICTE ), National Council for Teacher Education ( NCTE )​ and the University Grants Commission ( UGC ).

These two regulatory bodies will be replaced by another agency planned by the government that will be called Higher Education Empowerment Regulation Agency (HEERA) . The HRD Minister announced recently that the talks to replace UGC, AICTE and NCTE with a single regulator are underway.

Currently, the UGC acts as a funding body and regulator for universities, AICTE is the apex body for management and technical institutes whereas, NCTE is the regulator of education courses. All these three higher education regulators will be replaced with a single regulator for uniformity across all higher education institutes.

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According to a senior official close to the matter, the reform will eradicate all overlaps in the jurisdiction. It will also scrape the irrelevant regulatory provisions that are not needed anymore. However, the Council of Architecture and other such bodies argued that they must regulate education as a single regulator will compromise the flexibility, innovation and catering to the needs of the industry.

Amitabh Kant of Niti Aayog and KK Sharma, Higher Education Secretary are part of the committee that has been appointed to draft the detailed blueprint of HEERA. According to the latest reports, regulations laid down for the new agency will be precise and clean. The new set of rules will focus on outcomes by setting the minimum standards.

A single agency has been introduced for both technical and non-technical education because separating the two sections of educations reduces synchronisation, officials added. They also said that a single regulator will be able to give better outcomes.

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The idea of formation of a single regulatory authority was introduced during the UPA National Knowledge Commission. The idea will soon be implemented by Modi-led Government. The idea is to end ‘inspector raj and harassment’ within the education system.