Shri Rajeshji Tope, Minister for Higher and Technical Education, Government of Maharashtra, has said that the state Government will support high-quality research by different private institutions and will also consider more flexibility in admission process in unaided private management institutions to increase Gross Enrollment Ratio (GER) in Higher Education.
Higher education reform in India, including proposed bills to allow in foreign universities, has hit another snag after the party leading central government performed below expectations in elections in three out of five states – reducing its room for manoeuvre in pushing key bills through parliament.
With education sector requiring an investment of over $150 billion in the next 10 years, the government has proposed new private partnership models for expansion of higher education sector in the country. The government has proposed setting up of large education hubs in different parts of the country anchored by large public/private sector enterprises funded through their allocations for corporate social responsibility.
Punjab assembly passed two controversial bills on Friday, paving the way for two private universities to come up in the state even as the treasury benches ridiculed private varsities terming them as teaching shops set up to mint money.
In a sudden development, the Maharashtra government has dropped the plan to introduce a special act to regulate private universities, which are expected to come up in large numbers. This sudden U-turn by the government came even though the cabinet had cleared the bill by the state higher and technical education department on December 13.
Lovely Professional U., in northern India, boasts of its modern infrastructure, especially compared with the bare-bones campuses of many public universities. LPU's campus features Wi-Fi, a shopping mall, and restaurants.
A report on status of higher education prepared by Planning Commission and industry body CII has favoured greater participation of private sector in higher education with the establishment of larger and higher quality institutions during the 12th Plan Period.
Indian universities in the private sector need to look for diverse sources of funding rather than depending solely on tuition fees if they want to improve education quality, a higher education panel has concluded.
When the Foreign Educational Institutions (Regulations of Entry and Operations) Bill was introduced in parliament in 2010, no less than 50 foreign universities showed interest in setting up operations in India. Two years down the line, their interest seems to have dwindled
The government will fix social responsibility and control private universities so that there will not be scope for monopoly, Ravi told mediapersons. He said seven institutions have applied for setting up private universities in the State.
The Indian higher education system, which witnessed a significant growth over the last decade with private educational institutions playing a catalytic role in that direction, lends its infrastructure to students sponsored by foreign universities. This will not only help Indian institutions to place their credibility on the world map of higher education but also earn foreign exchange for the country.
Several private universities have opposed some of the higher education bills, making it even more difficult for the government to gain support in parliament.
A national convention on Higher Education on Monday denounced the three bills introduced by the government for the control of private institutions and universities, as “draconian.”
Indian President Pranab Mukherjee on Friday gave a speech calling for better standards and an enhanced private-sector role in higher education, Outlook India reported.
Will the 13 proposed private universities do what the professional colleges did for Karnataka? Both the government and the academics vouch for the need to have private sector participation in higher education and welcome the state legislature's nod to have 13 new private universities in the state. Presently, the state has two private varsities, the Alliance University and Azim Premji University.
As many as 138 private institutes across the country, including 65 management and 15 engineering colleges, have sought permission to close from the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE). This is more than three times the number of institutes that had come up with the request last year.