The government has established a committee to combine the UGC and AICTE offices as a first step toward creating a single higher education organisation. One of the greatest changes advocated under the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 was the creation of a unified organisation to govern institutions of higher learning, known as the Higher Education Commission of India (HECI), which was initially proposed in 2018.
A committee has now been established to create a plan for UGC and AICTE to collaborate as a single regulatory body, which is a step in the right direction. Research and innovation, e-governance, the translation of publications into regional languages, and examination changes are a few of the first important areas to be integrated. Universities and colleges with non-technical backgrounds were handled by UGC, whereas technical colleges were handled by AICTE.
All the bureau chiefs of the higher education and technical education regulators gathered for a meeting where the decision was made. “After careful thought, it became clear that UGC and AICTE must have a mutually beneficial relationship and work together on things like the faculty development programme, the students and faculty induction programme, skill development, internships, internationalization, getting two degrees at the same time in person, online, or hybrid mode, the Indian Knowledge System, and universal health coverage,” said UGC Chairman M. Jagadesh Kumar at the meeting.
It is anticipated that in the winter session of Parliament, the administration will introduce a Bill to establish HECI. In accordance with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, the HECI will serve as a single, comprehensive umbrella organisation for higher education. The National Council for Teachers’ Education (NCTE), the University Grants Commission (UGC), and all other regulating organisations will be combined to establish the HECI.
A committee has been formed to manage the merger. The vice-chairs of the UGC and AICTE, the UGC secretary, and the AICTE member-secretary are among the other members of the committee led by the UGC chairperson. Several subcommittees have also been set up to keep an eye on the transition in key areas.