Should India Allow Private-Run Boards to Function?

A university must be a society, trust, not for profit entity or should be run by one. There are majorly two routes for establishing a private university. Primarily, it may be set up with the help of an Act of Parliament (a central university) or an Act of a state legislature (state university). Till date, there is no private university which has been set up through an Act of Parliament. The other route is by being declared a deemed university. 229 universities currently are privately managed. States may differ in the norms of land and other procedural steps which are needed in setting up a private university. However, a laws analysis in some states like Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Gujarat showcases that largely these needs are similar across the states.

The UGC has powers for the recognition, functioning, and de-recognition of available deemed universities in the states. Also, it is empowered with disbursing grants to various other universities for their maintenance and development, and with the regulating fees which are charged by the universities. Failure to comply with UGC standards may result in the withdrawal of grants or termination of affiliation of any college to a university, in case the college does not comply with fee and other regulations. Private universities providing technical courses like town planning management, engineering, and many more, and getting funding from AICTE is needed to comply with its academic standards and regulations.

Policymakers on the lines of private universities are toying with the idea of private boards. Will it reinvent school education? The idea of allowing the private board of education cant is summarily dismissed when a number of international boards are allowed for operating in the country which is not necessarily run by the government. The experiment with private universities has been reasonably rewarding. As per the dynamics of knowledge and rising access to information, skills and the requirement for creative thinking, it seems to very important to move towards newer and better structures which would help in greater freedom to learn experiment and innovate. The latest experiments of Maharashtra for forming a board with an international curriculum and its drive towards open boards are indicators of change. Keeping the fundamentals of National Education Policy in mind, the curricular architecture modus operandi, pedagogical excellence, and credits for creative and innovative thinking as a part of evaluation could be the new formats designed by private initiatives. It is high time now for school education to reinvent.

By: Preeti Narula

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