Cabinet approves major education reforms bill

Charging of capitation fee by any institution would amount to a cognisable offence, allowing the police to arrest the erring administrators without a warrant, and the guilty would face imprisonment or fine under a proposed legislation approved by the cabinet today.

The draft Prohibition of Unfair Practices in Technical, Medical Educational Institutions and Universities Bill, 2010 is aimed at ending the menace of capitation fee in private colleges, especially engineering and medical institutions.

"Capitation fee charged by any institute will be a cognisable offence. People will be prosecuted without fear and favour," HRD minister Kapil Sibal said today.
   
The Cabinet also cleared Educational Tribunal Bill, 2010 and National Accreditation Regulatory Authority Bill, 2010.

Sources said the Prohibition of Unfair Practices Bill provides for upto three years of jail term to the guilty administrator of the institute for charging of capitation fee. 

Charging of any fee other than those disclosed in the prospectus of the institute will be considered as a cognisable offence. The offence can attract a fine upto Rs 50 lakh also, the sources said.

"We are very serious about it (capitation fee). This is destroying our education system," Sibal told a press conference.

The bill seeks to classify malpractices into two categories. Charging capitation fee will be cognisable offence, while other offences will be treated as non-cognisable and will attract some fine.

The civil offences will be adjudicated in the educational tribunals, while the cognisable offences will be dealt by courts.

Certain instituted, which promise good quality education but do not deliver it, will face penalty under this new regulation, Sibal said.

At present, the fee structure in private engineering and medical colleges is fixed by a state level committee headed by a retired High Court Judge. However, there are instances of many institutes charging fee higher than that suggested by the panel.

Certain institutes demand donations for admitting students and do not issue receipts for payments made by students. They give misleading advertisements in media with intent to cheat students. They also withhold certificates and other documents of students who want to quit the institute.

The Educational Tribunal Bill, 2010, seeks to set up specialised tribunals at the Centre and the states for adjudicating matters relating to disputes in educational institutions.

The National Accreditation Regulatory Authority Bill, 2010, seeks to set up a body to assess and accredit every institution in higher education, Sibal said. 

"The authority will set norms for accreditation. The process of accreditation will be outsourced to agencies of integrity registered with the authority," Sibal said. 

At present accreditation voluntary. But with new authority in place, every institute will go through mandatory accreditation.

All the three bills are expected to be introduced in Parliament after the recess.

Disputes pertaining to accreditation, affiliation and inter-institution matters will be adjudicated by the tribunals. The tribunal at the national level will comprise nine members, Sibal said.

The tribunals will act as forums for fast-track and speedy resolution of issues in institutions. The state tribunals will adjudicate matters concerning teachers, employees and students of institutions in the respective states.

The national tribunal would deal with all matters concerning regulatory bodies in higher education and also matters involving institutes located in two or more states. It would act as an appellate body against the orders of the state educational tribunals.

The present accreditation agencies like National Accreditation and Assessment council and National Board of Accreditation will function under the National Accreditation Regulatory Authority.

The purpose is to ensure that people get quality education, he said. Every institute will make self-disclosure about it which can be audited by the accreditation authority. 

It will be an independent statutory body for quality control, he said.

The authority would also monitor and audit the accreditation agencies registered under it.