Many provisions of VBSA Bill against federal principles: Kerala Higher Education Minister

KOZHIKODE: Kerala Higher Education Minister Roji M John on Friday alleged that the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan (VBSA) Bill 2025 has many provisions that are against federal principles as it seeks to bring the education sector entirely under central-control.

During a press conference at the Kozhikode District Congress Committee (DCC) office, John said that the state government's stand regarding the Bill has already been officially conveyed to the parliamentary committee.

Besides that, a detailed letter has been sent to all Members of Parliament from Kerala to strongly oppose the Bill to protect the state's interest in the field of education, he said. The minister said that the current government will bring reforms that the state wants in the higher education sector and that the initiatives announced in the budget will be implemented in a time-bound manner.

Also read VBSA Bill: Exemption to IITs ‘not desirable’; scrap deemed-university tag, plan separate funding, says panel

Panel formed to study issues over higher education council: John

He further said that when the four-year undergraduate courses were implemented, the necessary preparations were not made and therefore, a committee has been constituted to study the issues related to the Higher Education Council.

Necessary changes will be made after receiving the report of the committee, he said. Regarding the Kerala Law Entrance Exam (KLEE), the minister said that only a provisional result has been published and the final one will be made public after resolving the technical errors related to computing of the negative marks.

Changes will also be made to the Kerala Engineering Architecture and Medical (KEAM) exam from next year, John said. He said that an expert committee will be appointed to study all aspects of the KEAM exam and on the basis of its report, changes will be made to make it more student-friendly.