New Delhi,(IANS) Asserting that his ministry has fulfilled all promises for the first 100 days, Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal Thursday said he will bring in six new bills, including one to replace education regulators like the UGC and the AICTE with a commission.
'Our ministry has circulated the draft bill about an autonomous overarching authority for higher education. We would like to introduce it in the next parliament session,' Sibal said while addressing the media about his ministry's achievement in last 100 days.
The proposed commission will replace institutions like the University Grants Commission (UGC) and the All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE), as recommended by the National Knowledge Commission.
Sibal said the Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE) has already discussed the recommendation and the ministry has already set up a task force for aiding and advising the government on setting up the proposed body, named National Commission for Higher Education and Research (NCHER).
The minister said that draft legislation and a concept note have been circulated among ministries about a law for mandatory assessment and accreditation in higher education through an independent regulatory authority.
A bill to prevent, prohibit and punish educational malpractices is undergoing 'legal vetting'. The ministry is also set to introduce legislation in the coming parliament session to allow foreign universities to open campuses in India.
The other two legislative initiatives are aimed at having a tribunal to deal with higher education disputes and amending the Copyright Act.
Talking about the policy initiatives, Sibal said the ministry was formulating a 'brain gain' policy to attract talent from across the world to the existing and new institutions for teaching. 'Quality teachers is a national problem now,' he said.
He also spoke about bringing in a central madrassa board where Muslim students can be given better teaching 'without interfering with their theological teachings' to make them more competitive in the job market.
Sibal said his ministry had promised to sanction 100 women's hostel within the first 100 days. 'Now we have sanctioned 150 women hostels in higher educational institutions. We have sanctioned Rs.43 crore for this so far.'
'We have fulfilled the 100-day agenda by 100 percent,' a confident Sibal told reporters.
He also said that the ministry was working on the National Curriculum Framework and Teachers Education. 'Very soon the altered framework will be ready.'
Sibal said his efforts about the CBSE Class 10 boards are well known and, as promised, a literacy mission for women has been set up. The Rs.65 billion mission was launched by the prime minister Sep 8.
'We are looking forward to implement the Right to Education in the coming academic session.'
Under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, Sibal said, his ministry reached out to 190 million students across the country. This financial year, the ministry has distributed Rs.4,919 crore till Aug 31. In 2009-10, the flagship programme has an outlay of Rs.131 billion.
-- IANS