There are enormous societal expectations from the education
regulators in India due to the scale and complexity of
challenges that need to be addressed in higher aducation.
These include providing learning outcomes-based education
and individualsed learning on a mass scale. With the
national education policy 2020 being executed nationwide,
the need to achive regulatory excellence has become even
more important to achive the above objectives.
Every country wants to build higher education institutes of
excellence by investing in academic and research excellence.
The logic is straightforword. If a country aims at becomeing
self-reliant,it needs a knowledgeable and skilled workforce,
which only institution's of excellence can prepare.Such
institutions should focus on delivering affordable quality
education relevent and national needs.They also must have
governance structures that stimulate research excellence,the
freedom to purse different disciplines, encouaragement question
the status quo, an ecosystem that nurtures diversity.
Unfortunately,multiple agency's seek to regulate institutes of
higher education in India.However,building institutes of excelence
is impossible if numerous regulators work at cross purposes,in
silos with no consultative mechanisma but overlaping functions.
This operational disconnectamoung different regulators is a
major challenge
Due to the absence of consultation and coordination amoung various
regulators,education cannot promote holistic and multi-disciplinary
educatin to realise better learning outcomes and research output,a
requirement for preparing well-rounded learners with 21st century
skills and diverse experiences their employability.
All degree awarding institutions are expected to be guided by HECI
by holistically hormonizing multiple higher education disciplines,
For example,the recent unveling of a national credit framework is
a major intiative in hormonizing school education,higher education
and skill or vocational education,and skill education. The use of
Academic Bank of credits by all educational institutions will
provide increased mobility for students to move from one institutions
to another or migrate from one discipline to another.
Given the rapid changes India's higher education will undergo,HECI,
which will be setablished through an act of parliament,must set it's
priorities right and bring out regulations based on evidence based
inputs,HECI, should refrain from bringing out regulations in areas
requiring no regulations.As a regulator,it should asses how the
regulations will impact the functioning of higher education institutes
and wherther the change aim to obtain is optimal.
Input from the stake holders (students,faculty members,non-teaching
staff, institutional heads,industry and general public) can be benificial
when formulating the regulations. A regulator should therefore have an
open mind to suggestions and feed back and formulate the regulations
transperently participatory procedures.
While regulations of higher education is vital and is for the public good,
regulator should practice regulatory self restrient and intervene only when
there is evidence for intervention. It should not succumb to the temtation
of micro managing the affars of higher education institutes just because the
the law gives the authority.
This means that the regulator should foresee the expected role a
regulation will play in improving the quality of education and the
constrains it could bring. Therefore the regulatory authority in
the juridiction should give due consideration to other regulations
broughtby another regulatory authoritywhile preparing its regulations.
We need to create an interconnected web.
Interactions between players in the wider net work,sharing of
regulations and their impact,and more importantly,working together to
co-create regulations will go a long way in making the functioning of
educational institutions more oiled. There is much to learn from each
others regulatory experiences,for instance how regulatory complience
can be made more uncomplicated using dugital technology during cricis
such as the covid pandemic.These key aspects are critical.These key
aspects are critical for advancing of the need for HECL.
By harnessing the potential of collaborative efforts, HECL can usher in
a contemporory streamlined regulatory approch involving all revlevent
regulatory bodies and stake holders.As a unified and hormonized regulator,
HECL can play a transformative role in making India's initiative to build
institutes of excellence.
