Key changes in Bill to welcome,not scare,foreign universities

To ensure transparency,the revised version of the Bill which could soon go to the Cabinet says that in case the Centre rejects the application,the reasons for the same will have to be communicated to the Foreign Educational Institution concerned within 30 days of the advice received from the Commission.

Changing previous provisions that suggested that the UGC/Commission could intervene in fee-regulation in institutes set up by Foreign Education Providers,the CoS has now suggested that institutes must instead mandatorily adhere to full disclosure of all components of their fee and deposits,the number of seats available,admission process,details of teaching faculty including their educational qualifications,teaching experience and pay categories,details of the institutes physical and academic infrastructure,broad outlines of the syllabus,teaching hours etc.

Also,they will have to offer academic programmes in conformity with standards prescribed by the statutory authority and comparable to what they offer in terms of curriculum,teaching methods and faculty quality in their main campus in the country of their origin.

With HRD Minister Kapil Sibals recent foreign trips having centred on the opportunities this legislation could offer in India,the Bill is keenly awaited. Clarity on the laws pertaining to the operation of foreign universities in India will be essential if we are to consider a full range of possibilities for engagement there,Robert A Brown,President,Boston University,told The Indian Express.

The new version of the Bill has dropped clauses added by the HRD ministry recently like the one suggesting that the Centre can deny operation of such an institute in the interest of national security. With the PMO having raised objections saying this could be an irritant,the CoS has recommended that this clause be dropped as there were many domestic laws already in place to take care of such scenarios.

Addressing the concerns raised by the Health Ministry on the provisions that an overarching commission will be the final authority to approve,regulate and monitor universities of all disciplines,the CoS has said that for medical education the statutory authority will not be UGC or any overarching Commission but statutory authorities established under the Indian Medical Act,Homoeopathy Central Council Act,the Indian Medicine Central Council Act,Dentists Act,Pharmacy Act and the Indian Nursing Council Act. Similarly for legal education,the Bar Council of India will be the statutory authority.

In extreme cases,the Centre can withdraw the Foreign Education Provider status from an institute,attach its corpus fund and other properties to make payments to those employed at the institute as well as to provide appropriate educational facilities to affected students.

The CoS has also proposed to de-link the Bill from the Education Tribunal Bill,if necessary. While the proposed National Educational Tribunal is to handle all appeals related to foreign education providers,with the bill on Tribunals,stuck in a Group of Ministers,the CoS is learnt to have opined that in case the GoM does not agree to the Tribunal Bill,the provisions for appeals will be restored to the Central Government.

The Bill first proposed under Arjun Singh in the last UPA was stalled after then ally,the Left,raised objections. Revived by Sibal this year,the Bill was slightly revised but did not find too much favour with the PMO which felt that it was not in keeping with the reformist vision charted out by the National Knowledge Commission and the Prof Yashpal-led Committees report on Rejuvenation of Higher Education. The Bill finally was referred last month to the CoS.