It is the endeavour of the Central Government to promote and develop all institutions of higher education and bring them at par with global standards. Many of the central institutions like Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) and Central Universities (CUs) have in fact achieved remarkable successes in terms of quality of teaching, learning and research.

Higher Education is the joint responsibility of the Central and State Governments. While the Central Educational Institutions are adequately funded and maintained by the Central Government, many State Institutions have not been able to receive adequate funding from the State Governments. The Central Government has launched a Centrally Sponsored Scheme namely Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA) during the XIIth Plan to enhance funding and incentivize reforms in State Higher Educational Institutions.

Under the Centrally Sponsored Scheme of RUSA, the overall quality of existing State higher educational institutions is sought to be improved by ensuring their conformity to prescribed norms and standards and adoption of accreditation as a mandatory quality assurance framework. One of the component of RUSA, which seeks to support and reform the state higher education system, is providing funding for Research, Innovation and Quality improvement based on the State’s Research and Innovation Plan.

The University Grants Commission (UGC) implements various schemes aimed at improving the quality of higher education in the university system. These include schemes such as the Universities with Potential for Excellence (UPE), Colleges with Potential for Excellence (CPE) and Autonomous Colleges.

In order to improve quality of higher educational institutions the UGC has issued Regulations on “Minimum Qualifications for Appointment of Teachers and other Academic Staff in Universities and Colleges and Measures for the Maintenance of Standards in Higher Education, 2010” for improving the standard of teaching in Indian Universities. The UGC has also issued the Mandatory Assessment and Accreditation of Higher Educational Institutions, Regulations, 2012 whereby all eligible higher Educational institutions are required to have themselves mandatorily accredited. The UGC has also laid down the UGC (Institutions Deemed to be Universities) Regulations, 2010 and UGC (Maintenance of Standards in Private Universities) Regulations, 2003 for maintaining standards in Deemed to be Universities and Private Universities respectively.

The All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) has also issued the AICTE (Mandatory Accreditation of all programs / courses in Technical Education Institutions, University Departments and Institutions Deemed to be Universities imparting Technical Education) Regulations, 2014 which makes it mandatory for each technical education institutions, University Departments and Institutions Deemed to be Universities imparting Technical Education to get all its programs / courses accredited by the Accreditation Agency.

This information was given by the Union Human Resource Development Minister, Smt. Smriti Irani in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha question today.

Source: PIB