Decoding Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill: Honorary chair, no teacher reps, external accreditation, fines

The Higher Education Commission of India (HECI), now called the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan, will have three councils under it headed by a president, states the draft bill. The VBSA's chairperson will be appointed in an “honorary capacity”, unlike that of University Grants Commission (UGC), who was “whole-time and salaried”.

The Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan will have representatives from state higher educational institutions but the proposed law does not provide for teacher representatives, unlike the UGC Act.

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As per the draft bill, the commission or VBSA will also have powers to impose penalties, starting at a fine of Rs 10 lakh and up to Rs 75 lakh, and recommend stopping grants and revoking affiliation for breach of the rules and regulations. In case anyone opens universities without approvals, the fine listed is of Rs 2 crore.

The term of the chairperson and the presidents of respective councils will be initially for “three years”, which may be extended for five years. The UGC chairperson used to be appointed for a five year period.

As reported earlier by Careers360, funding is outside the purview of the new body. It will have powers to fund only the councils. Beyond that, for broader education funding, its powers will be limited to recommending schemes to the education ministry.

The Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill also provides for the repeal of three existing laws and with them, the regulatory bodies they underpin – the UGC, All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) and the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE). If the bill is enacted into law, the Council of Architecture (CoA) will also “cease to have regulatory powers”.

The bill also envisions a two-year transition period during which all rules and regulations framed by the existing bodies will continue to be effective.

The HECI bill is scheduled for introduction in parliament during the winter session and was cleared by the cabinet on Friday evening. According to reports, a copy was submitted to members of parliament on Sunday evening.

Careers360 has a copy of the bill; given below is a quick analysis of its major provisions and how they differ from existing law and policy.

Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan: 3 councils, their functions

Again, as reported earlier, there will be three “verticals” of functioning under the VBSA and each will be managed by a council.

The three councils under the Adhisthan will be the following:

• Viksit Bharat Shiksha Viniyaman Parishad or the regulatory council: This will be responsible for coordinating and maintenance of standards.
• Viksit Bharat Shiksha Gunvatta Parishad or the accreditation council: This body will oversee the accreditation process, currently managed by the National Accreditation and Assessment Council (NAAC).
• Viksit Bharat Shiksha Manak Parishad or the standards council: This will set academic standards across higher education.

The three councils will work in tandem with each other with the main Vikshi Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan coordinating between them.

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Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan composition, chairperson

The new commission will be headed by a chairperson and have a maximum of 12 members. The presidents of the three councils and secretary to the Government of India in the ministry of education will be ex-officio members.

Seven others will be part-time members of the commission:

• Two academics of professor rank from state institutions
• Five eminent experts
• Member secretary will be a full-time member of the commission and serve as the chief executive officer.

This is a shift from the UGC membership structure which allowed for four teacher representatives. The UGC Act also had provision for vice-chancellors of universities, educationists of repute or those who have obtained high academic distinctions to become members, upon recommendation of the central government.

Where the UGC Act required the chairman to be “chosen from among persons who are not officers of the central government or of any state government” – in an effort to insulate the academic body from political influence – the VBSA Bill has no such clause.

In fact, the chairperson will be appointed in “honorary capacity” and not hold the position on whole-time basis.

The term of office of the chairperson of the commission shall be for an initial period of three years, which may be extended up to five years, from the date of his appointment. He will be eligible for re-appointment for another term.

The commission will have its own fund to be called the “Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Fund” to receive grants from the central government and spend.

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VBSA Regulatory council: Structure, functions

The Viksit Bharat Shiksha Viniyaman Parishad will facilitate the process of granting graded autonomy to higher educational institutions and specify standards for foreign universities to operate in India.

It will also take measures to allow colleges to attain required accreditation benchmarks and eventually become autonomous degree-granting colleges. It will also draw up a roadmap for setting up of higher educational institutions.

The council is expected to take “swift corrective action” within 60 days of breaches.

The regulatory council shall have a president and a maximum of 14 other members. The council will include two eminent academics not below the rank of professor and a member-secretary.

The rest will be part-time members and include the following:

• One academic from a state higher educational institution
• One representing the CoA
• Three academics of professor rank from Institutions of National Importance
• One nominee of states and union territories, on rotation basis
• Two eminent experts

The council will also have three ex-official members – a bureaucrat from the education ministry and a representative from each of the other two councils.

The membership structure is similar for the other two councils. The presidents and full-time members shall be appointed by the President of India on the recommendations of the search-cum-selection committee, which will consist of two eminent experts nominated by the central government and the secretary in the ministry or department dealing with higher education.

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Regulatory Council: Power to impose penalties

In a departure from the UGC Act, the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill sets out clear penalties for breach of regulations and gives the regulatory authority powers to take or recommend a wide variety of punitive measures.

The regulatory council may start by issuing the institution in breach of rules a notice in writing and seek clarification. Depending on the response, it allows for escalation to a Rs 10 lakh fine and further to a Rs 75-lakh fine.

It will have the powers to recommend firing of individuals, review the level of autonomy granted, recommend that the state or central government withhold grants, modify or suspend the right to grant degrees, or advise the government to revoke affiliation or order its closure.

“If any person establishes a university or higher educational institution without the approval of the central government or the respective state government, such person shall be liable to a penalty not less than Rs 2 crore or such amount as may be specified from time to time along with immediate closure,” the draft bill states.

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Beyond NAAC: Accreditation council, 3rd-party evaluation

The Viksit Bharat Shiksha Gunvatta Parishad shall function as an accrediting body and oversee an independent accreditation system. It allows for the possibility of “empanelling” third parties to carry out functions that have currently remained within the purview of bodies like the NAAC and National Board of Accreditation (NBA, for technical institutions).

The council will also be responsible for:

• Developing an “Institutional Accreditation Framework”
• Empanel and de-empanel accrediting institutions
• Monitor and review the performance of accrediting institutions

However, the bill does not mention the eventual integration of NAAC with this council.

The implementation of the Institutional Development Plan (IDP) – a recommendation of the National Education Policy (NEP 2020) will also be its responsibility.

VBSA Standards Council: Defining degrees

The Viksit Bharat Shiksha Manak Parishad will frame expected learning outcomes for higher education programmes.

Part of its functions will be to ease the integration of vocational education into higher education and define the standards that must be achieved for each level of qualification.

CoA restructuring, professional councils

The Council of Architecture appears to be the only professional council that the HECI Bill or the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill has been able to bring within the single regulator’s purview.

Following the implementation of the VBSA, the CoA, established under the Architects Act, 1972, will function as a professional standard setting body (PSSB), as envisioned in the NEP, 2020.

“The CoA will have representation in all the three councils proposed to be established under the proposed legislation. As a member of the standards Council, the CoA will participate in framing the curricula, laying down academic standards and co-ordinating between teaching, research and extension of its domain or discipline. Thus, CoA would set the standards or expectations in its particular field of learning and practice while having no regulatory role,” the draft bill states.

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The other professions – law, medicine and allied health sciences, veterinary sciences, rehabilitation, pharmacy – will continue to be regulated by their respective professional bodies. The VBSA doesn’t impact the Pharmacy Council of India, the Bar Council of India, the Veterinary Council of India, the Rehabilitation Council of India, the National Medical Commission, the National Commission for Homoeopathy, the National Commission for Allied and Healthcare Professions, the National Nursing and Midwifery Commission and the National Dental Commission.

UGC, AICTE, NCTE dissolution

The UGC, AICTE and NCTE will continue to function until the commission is constituted.

However, on their dissolution, the chairperson, vice-chairperson and other members of these bodies shall vacate their respective offices and shall be entitled to claim compensation not exceeding three months, and allowances for premature termination of office.

However, those employed in these bodies on a regular basis will simply move to the new body and continue on the same terms.