Abstract:

The education sector in India is passing through exiting times. The four bills produced by the human resources development minister in the Lok Sabha will potentially overhaul of the countries higher education system and restructure the legal and regulatory environment of higher education. This represents a landmark as these bills are the first major reform initiative in higher education in free India.
The country’s education system has been characterized by a huge demand-supply gap, high entry barriers and over-regulation that rendered it incapable of coping with the soaring aspirations of a growing middle class and requirements of a new world order. India requires serious measures for expansion and resource mobilization, given the formidable target of 21 per cent gross enrolment ratio(GER) by the end of the 12th Plan(2017). Today’s 12.4 per cent GER is much lower than the world average of about 23 per cent.
The Prohibition of Unfair Practices in Technical Education Institutions, Medical Educational Institutions and Universities Bill, 2010, seeks to prohibit unfair practices in technical educational institutions, medical educational institutions and universities and introduce greater transparency through mandatory disclosures regarding faculty, fees and infrastructure, etc. While the Foreign Education Institutions (Regulation of Entry& Operations)Bill 2010, seeks to include within its ambit foreign education institutions(FEIs), whether existing and proposed, set up independently or in tie up with an Indian partner or education providers imparting education resulting in degree, diploma or certificate in India. The Educational Tribunals Bill,2010, seeks to provide for a two-tier system of adjudication of disputes relating to education involving teacher and employees of higher education institutions, students, universities, institutions and statutory regulatory authorities. And the fourth Bill, the National Accreditation Regulatory Authority for Higher Educational Bill, 2010 intends to make accreditation mandatory for higher educational institutions.
This paper focuses on the present scenario of higher education in India along with the future implication of these four newly introduced bills in Indian Parliament (Lok Sabha).It is expected that these four bills will change entirely Indian higher education system in the years to come.

Keywords:

Resource mobilization, Reform initiatives, Unfair practices, Higher education, Accreditation.