New Delhi, August 31
In the first ever move to ensure university autonomy in India, the government today proposed to de-link the office of university Vice-Chancellor and other major academic positions from politics. No more will the authority to nominate potential candidates for top academic and research posts vest with politicians.
Also, the government today formally announced the introduction of grading (instead of marks) in class X in all CBSE schools from the current academic session. Class X boards will be made optional in all senior secondary CBSE schools from the next academic year, Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal today said after the Central Board of Advisory Education (CABE), the highest decision-making body on education in India, approved most of reform proposals of the Centre.
State governments are on board on the issue of school reforms, with most saying they would learn from the CBSE experience before moving forward. CABE in general agreed to the need for education reforms and endorsed the need for a core curriculum for science and math at secondary and higher secondary levels to give a level playing field to students joining professional courses.
The most important development of the day, however, was CABE’s go ahead to HRD Ministry’s proposal of a self-selecting collegium being given the authority to nominate university V-Cs and members of the proposed National Council for Higher Education and Research (NCHER). Most states agreed to the idea of an overarching regulator, but some like West Bengal sought full state involvement in the constitution of the authority and said state parallels were a must to NCHER at the centre.
On the issue of V-Cs and other top academics being selected by independent experts, CABE was unanimous, with Sibal saying the collegium would recommend the name of potential V-Cs and members of NCHER and send them to the government.
“The government would then take a final call. If it were in disagreement with the collegium’s decision, it would
refer its proposal back to the experts. The collegium would be constituted of eminent persons, even a Nobel laureate for that matter. It will have full authority to make nominations of V-Cs and incumbents to other academic and research positions,” Sibal said following the day-long CABE conference, which ended with unanimity on the issue of school reforms and de-stressing education, but recommended that the government increased the centre’s financial share for implementing the Right to Education law.
On RTE, every state sought increased outlay, with even Sibal admitting that the government would be Rs 60,000 crore short over the next five years to implement the law. “The PM has promised support to this law, so budget should not be a problem. We are also aware of states’ concerns and would soon evolve a new centre-state finance sharing formula. If needed, we will go to the Finance Commission to seek enhanced outlays for states,” Sibal told the visiting state education ministers, who were concerned about costs. Rs 2 lakh crore is needed for the law to be enforced over the next five years.
As for NCHER, the government is drafting a constitutional amendment bill to provide necessary teeth to the council. As reported earlier by The Tribune, the search committee for the council members would have the PM and leader of opposition on board, along with independent experts. For the collegium, a separate legislation will be brought naming its members, said HRD ministry sources.
