HYDERABAD: The proposed Higher Education Commission of India (HECI) talks about autonomy on one hand and on the other it is centralising powers to the Central government by placing all funding powers in the hands of MHRD, said Kadiam Srihari, deputy chief minister. He was speaking at the brainstorming session organised by the TSCHE regarding the new higher education regulator, at STML Hall of Dr BR Ambedkar Open University on Monday.
The recommendation on behalf of the State government will be sent to the MHRD on July 20, he said.
On the occasion, Srihari flayed the centre for undertaking too many experiments at one go. For instance, a recommendation on the National Education Policy was sought and even before work was completed on that front, the proposal to replace UGC with HECI was made. He questioned if the government had thought through how the latter would fit into the former.
However, he added they would not blindly oppose the draft but all the 31 clauses and their sub-clauses would be discussed. Speaking about the recommendation, he said that the focus would be on how the proposed bill affects current societal needs and improves the education of Dalits and minorities, etc. He was wary that in its current form, the HECI was obstructing the right given to the State government by the constitution. “Depending upon the need of the people, the State government had started universities like MGU and Palamuru University but now this autonomy could be taken away from us,” the minister said and added that even the constitution of the Commission was problematic since it comprised more of bureaucrats than academicians.
Taking a dig at the Centre, Srihari said the bill reflected the desire of political parties to take control over universities. “A recent trend has been that persons with political ideology are made VCs.This will adversely affect education,” he said. He also asked both - states and Centre - to make education priority by filling up vacant vice chancellor positions and focus on funding and research.
SFI asks State to oppose Centre’s move on HECI
Warangal: The Students’ Federation of India (SFI) has demanded that the state government oppose the decision of the Centre to replace the University Grants Commission (UGC) with Higher Education Commission of India (HECI). A delegation of the Students’ Union, led by its state president N Thirupathi, submitted a memorandum to the Deputy Chief Minister and Education Minister Kadiyam Srihari in this regard in Warangal on Monday