HECI: Transformation through integration

The twenty first century has seen the resurgence of Bharat on the global canvas with stable governance, decisive policy reforms, infrastructural growth, exponential rise in technological and digital capabilities and thrust to scientific innovation. Combined with our civilisational values of collective well-being, harmony and integral human development has steadily increased our global influence. At a time, when as a nation we have pledged to move from being identified as a developing to developed country by 2047, role of higher education is going to be pivotal in providing an ecosystem that nurtures creative thinking, innovation and research driven curricula in the educational institutions across the country.

Implementation of National Education Policy (NEP2020) has come as a major reform in the tertiary education aiming to provide opportunity and prepare learners for the 21st century. NEP2020 says that Bharat should have an education system by 2040 that is second to none, should give equitable access to the highest-quality education for all learners regardless of social or economic background. The target of NEP2020 is to double enrolment in the higher education institutions from 4.33 crores to nearly 9 crore students by 2035. This education policy, providing a roadmap to more than 1000 educational institutions across the country, must have reinforcement of a cohesive regulatory structure that can coordinate multiple dimensions of education.

 Purpose of Regulatory Bodies
At present, University Grants Commission (UGC) is the statutory body that is responsible for determination and maintenance of standards of education. Established through an act of parliament in 1956, UGC also advises central and state governments on the measures which are necessary for the maintaining of standards in higher education. UGC has been coordinating and maintaining standards for teaching, examinations, and research, providing financial assistance to universities and colleges to support their activities in central and state universities and has been granting recognition to the non-technical universities. All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) has been looking after laying down guidelines and approvals for technical courses in engineering and management while National Council for Technical Education (NCTE) has been responsible for regulating teacher education programmes across the country. Many other regulatory bodies like National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) were formed as the need arose to quantify, assess and accredit higher education institutions in Bharat.

Over the years, various commissions and education policies have emphasised the need to minimise and rationalise regulations in higher education. However, the piecemeal approach to reforms undertaken so far in education have been limited in their role, acting in silos; hence, resulting in excessive concentration of authority, overlapping mandates, conflicts of interest, and weak accountability. NEP2020 observes that the existing regulatory framework has become “mechanistic and disempowering”. Therefore, to “re-energise” higher education, and create a regulatory system that is transparent, has distinct functions of regulation, accreditation, funding, and academic standard setting, a comprehensive overhaul has been recommended in the regulatory structure of higher education by NEP2020.

A REVOLUTIONARY RECOMMENDATION

The education policy has recommended an umbrella institution of Higher Education Commission of India (HECI) which will have four independent verticals minimising conflicts of interest and eliminate concentrations of power yet working in synergy towards common goal. HECI intends to have four distinct and empowered verticals looking after regulation, accreditation, funding, and academic standard setting. Excluding medical and legal education, all dimensions of regulation of education will be covered under HECI.

• n National Higher Education Regulatory Council (NHERC) will function as the common, single point regulator for the higher education sector including teacher education. It is expected to be ‘light but tight’, eliminating the duplication and disjunction of regulatory efforts by the multiple regulatory agencies as existing today. All aspects including financial probity, good governance, and the full online and offline public self-disclosure of all finances, audits, procedures, infrastructure, faculty/staff, courses, and educational outcomes will be under this regulation. Feedback of the institutions will be solicited from the students in online for valuable inputs at regular intervals.
• National Accreditation Council (NAC) will perform the accreditation of institutions. At present NAAC looks after the responsibility of multidisciplinary institution with diverse programmes. However, the technical institutions have to take separate course accreditation from National Board of Accreditation (NBA). NAC will specify phased benchmarks for all higher education institutions to achieve set levels of quality, self-governance, and autonomy.
• The Higher Education Grants Council (HEGC) will be responsible for funding and financing higher education institutions through transparent and objective criteria. Higher Education Institutions are required to prepare their short term and long term development plans under Institutional Development Plans (IDPs) and the progress demonstrated in implementing them. The HEGC will also oversee the disbursement of scholarships as well as developmental grants to support new focus areas, strengthen research and innovation, and expand high-quality academic programmes across disciplines and fields.
• General Education Council (GEC) will be the fourth vertical of HECI responsible for framing the learning outcomes of the higher education programmes. It will construct a National Higher Education Qualification Framework (NHEQF) which will quantify the credits related to number of hours in academic courses and also sync the same with the National Skills Qualification Framework (NSQF), for the integration of vocational education into higher education. The credits defined based on learning outcomes by NHEQF will lead to award of degree/diploma/certificate by institutions. GEC shall define norms for issues, such as credit transfer, equivalence, etc, through the NHEQF. The GEC shall have the mandate to identify specific skills that students must acquire during their academic programmes.

SIGNIFICANCE OF HECI

The existing professional councils such as the Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR), Veterinary Council of India (VCI), National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE), Council of Architecture (CoA), National Council for Vocational Education and Training (NCVET) etc, will act as Professional Standard Setting Bodies (PSSB) under the GEC and play a key role in designing the curricula. They will play a key role in the higher education system and will be invited to be members of the GEC. These bodies, after restructuring as PSSBs, will continue to draw the curricula, and laying down academic standards for such courses. The PSSBs would not have a regulatory role but set the standards in particular disciplines of learning and practice. HECI will specify norms for fees chargeable by higher educational institutions. It will have the provision to direct the closure of such institutions which fail to adhere to the minimum prescribed standards or fail to get the mandatory accreditations within specified time period.

Bharat has the second largest enrolment of students in higher education across the world, after China. Education being in the concurrent list in our constitution, empowers both Centre and State to make related laws. As per Niti Aayog, there are 495 State Public Universities which have 46,000 affiliated institutions catering to 81 per cent of the total student enrolment in higher education in the country. The commitment of state governments to implement the NEP2020 in letter and spirit plays a significant role in ensuring equity and equal access to higher education across the length and breadth of the country. Introduction of HECI Bill in the parliament and subsequent implementation of the regulations will bring accountability and same standards of governance in education across the states.

A single regulatory body in higher education is essential to ensure coherence, transparency, and efficiency in Bharat’s rapidly expanding education system. Multiple regulators often lead to overlapping mandates, delays, and inconsistent standards, which hinder institutional growth and innovation. By bringing academic standards, accreditation, funding, and regulation under one umbrella, the governance becomes more streamlined and student-centric. It enables uniform quality benchmarks, reduces bureaucratic burden, and allows institutions to focus on academic excellence rather than compliance. HECI as a regulator in higher education will add strength to the vision of NEP 2020 for a coordinated, responsive, higher education ecosystem that can meet national development goals.