Proposed National Commission on Higher Education and Research

By : N.R. Madhava Menon

Page No: 219-226

Abstract
In this article,# the author dwells on the recommendations of the National Knowledge Commission (NKC) and the Committee to Advise on Renovation and Rejuvenation of Higher Education (known as Yash Pal Committee) to bring about drastic changes to the prevailing regulatory structure of higher education. The author explains different components of the proposed legislations, on the basis of different announcements of the then Union minister of Human Resource Development. The author relates the broad contours of the then proposed ‘National Commission for Higher Education and Research Bill’ on which views and comments from different stakeholders were being solicited. The author also explains how the then proposed National Commission on Higher Education and Research (NCHER) was contemplated to subsume all regulatory bodies in the field of education including the University Grants Commission (UGC), All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE), Distance Education Council (DEC) apart from the academic aspects of the professional councils. It is also explicated how the proposed reforms in higher education sought to bring it at par with international standards.

Author :
N.R. Madhava Menon : Former member of Law Commission of India and was a member of the Committee to Advise on Renovation and Rejuvenation of Higher Education (Yash Pal Committee).