NEW DELHI: Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Monday informed the Lok Sabha that multiple mechanisms with checks and balances have been provided in the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 to stop the commercialisation of education.
He was responding to a starred question by MP Arminder Singh Raja as to whether any survey had been done regarding the surging tuition fee in public and private universities and if any guidelines had been put in place to regulate cost of online and hybrid degree programmes under NEP 2020. Raja also wanted details about Central scholarships granted to students from economically weaker sections.
Pradhan said NEP 2020 emphasises online and offline public disclosure and transparency for both public and private schools. "NEP proposes similar standards of audit and disclosure as a ‘not-for- profit’ entity to all the education institutions. Surplus, if any, will be reinvested in the educational sector. Similarly, in higher education, all HEIs- public and private- shall be treated at par observing common guidelines."
The Universities are autonomous bodies which are governed by their respective Acts or statues. Based on the type of universities, the criteria for fee structure is administered, he said. In respect of IITs/ IIITs / NITs/IIEST/ IIMs etc, the fee structure is regulated as per the provision of the respective Acts/ Statutes, Pradhan pointed out.
The All India Council for Technical Education has issued instructions that institutions shall not directly or indirectly demand or charge capitation fee or demand any donation by way of consideration for admission to any seat in a course. University Grants Commission (Institutions deemed to be Universities) Regulations, 2023 stipulates that donation or capitation fee in whatever nomenclature or form, either directly or indirectly, is strictly prohibited, the Education Minister explained.
The fee needs be fixed transparently, keeping in view non-profiteering or non-commercial aspects. Fee structure in Private Universities is decided either by the State Government concerned / State Private Universities Regulatory Authority or by the Private University Concerned.
UGC (Open and Distance Learning Programmes and Online Programmes) Regulations, 2020 has been notified with the objective to provide opportunities for Higher Education to a larger segment of the population and to promote the educational wellbeing of the community in general, the fee structure shall be devised by the HEIs in such a manner that it is affordable to all the stake holders including students from the deprived sections of society.
In a major push to strengthen India’s higher education infrastructure, 42 new Central Higher Educational Institutions have been established across the country since 2014. Sharing more data, he said, the total number of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) increased from 51,534 to 60,380, reflecting a 17% rise. Universities grew from 760 to 1,213, colleges from 38,498 to 46,624, and standalone institutions from 12,276 to 12,543.
Student enrollment rose by 30.5%, from 3.42 crore to 4.46 crore. Female enrollment surged by 38.4%,from 1.57 crore to 2.18 crore. Enrolment among SC, ST, and OBC students increased by 50.1% (46.06 lakh to 69.13 lakh), 75% (16.41 lakh to 28.72 lakh), and 54.6% (1.13 crore to 1.74 crore) respectively.
In the academic year 2023-24, more than one crore students were granted scholarships for Post-Matric and Higher Education, which included about 39.3 lakh scholarships for Other Backward Classes (OBC), Extremely Backward Classses (EBC) and Denotified Tribes (DNT) students; about 47 lakh scholarships to Scheduled Castes (SC) students and about 20.5 lakh scholarships for ST students.