Higher education draft bill by March 15,talks soon

“Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had appointed a task force for the recommendation of Yash Pal Committee report on higher education that proposed to set up National Commission on Higher Education and Research (NCHER),a single regulatory body for higher education. We had several brainstorming sessions in our meetings over the recommendations of the Yash Pal Committee and recently we have come up with the provisional draft,” he said.

He said the provisional draft has been put up on the website of Ministry of Human Resource Development and suggestions have been invited. “We are also going to all parts of the country conducting regional deliberations on the provisional draft bill. We will come to Pune for the same on February 20,” he said.

Jadhav said after these deliberations and including suggestions,the draft bill will be submitted to the cabinet. “With the formation of NCHER,role of the present regulatory bodies like the UGC,AICTE and councils of professional courses will be reduced as they will be subsumed under NCHER,” he said.

He also said these bodies will perform a limited role. “For example,the Medical Council of India will be restricted to issuing licences to the doctors who would want to practice medicine,” he said.

Regarding exam reforms,he said exams should test the thinking ability of students and not their memory. “There should be open book exams that will test the mettle of students,” Jadhav said.

National convener of VVM Atul Kothari,educationist Yashwant Waghmare,chairman of governing body of Maharashtra Education Society Ravindra Wanjarwadkar were also present.