Smt. Smriti Irani deliberated upon Making India a Global Hub for Quality Higher Education' at EPSI's National Conference 2016

- The Hon'ble Union Minister for HRD today made several announcements that shall bolster the spirits of the Private Higher Education Providers

Education Promotion Society for India (EPSI), a national body representing the private universities and colleges across the country, convened a one-day National Conference on Making India a Global Hub for Quality Higher Education at Hotel Lalit, Bengaluru. The conference was inaugurated by Smt. Smriti Zubin Irani, Hon'ble Minister of HRD, Government of India among a host of senior dignitaries and academicians. Sh. T B Jayachandra, Hon'ble Minister of Higher Education and Sh. Sharan Prakash R Patil, Hon'ble Minister of State for Medical Education, Karnataka Government were also present on the occasion. More than 300 Chancellors, Vice-Chancellors, Directors and Principals from the Higher Education institutions attended the Conference. The Conference discussed the road map for Making India a Global Hub for Quality Higher Education and addressed some of the pressing issues related to higher education viz. globalization, student's mobility and improving the access of quality higher education to the poor students. Financing Higher Education and the Challenge for Equity & Access; and roles of values in Higher Education were deliberated upon in various plenary sessions.

In his address, Dr. H. Chaturvedi-Alternate President-EPSI said: Higher Education Institutions can contribute a lot in India's future economic growth, similar to Higher Education institutes in Singapore, Malaysia and Dubai. We already have a large number of Universities which are attracting foreign students. In the next five years, we propose that the current number of 33,000 students may become 5,00,000 foreign students studying in India.

Dr. G Vishwanathan, President-EPSI raised the issue of UGC's regulation of 2010 which is creating a lot of difficulties for deemed universities. Some high courts have already raised questions about the validity of these regulations and have demanded these to be withdrawn. He said that the higher education sector has not been getting the benefits of liberalization. While Goddess Lakshmi has been liberated, Goddess Saraswati is still under chains, he added.

To this, the Hon'ble Union Minister for HRD replied that the Ministry is working towards providing Higher Education Institutions more autonomy.

Acknowledging the significant role of the private institutions in bridging the industry academia gap through multitude of initiatives; Smt. Smriti Irani made announcements that will bolster the spirits of the Private Higher Education Institutions:

• - In a major move, Smt. Smriti Irani announced that Institutions under AICTE, if they are accredited by NBA for 5 years will get automatic approval for the next five years.
• - She added that University Grants Commission and other regulatory bodies should become enablers for private institutions with a good performance record. Affiliated or Accredited colleges performing well shall be given autonomous status. Those colleges/institutions which are NAAC accredited with highest grade of accreditation and have completed 10 years of existence should be encouraged by the State for giving autonomous status.

• Universities with 2F or 12 B status will be allowed to run specialized skills-based programs in the second shift.

• Smriti Irani appealed to EPSI and its members to provide varied scholarships for the girl child and the differently-abled students.

• Moving towards transparency, the requirement of having a nominee from Ministry of HRD on the Governing Board of Private Universities shall be discontinued for self financing universities.

Smt. Smriti Irani appealed EPSI to work towards launching a world-wide outreach program to showcase the strengths and the positive work of the Indian education system and enable global exchange. EPSI should also promote the know your college' portal of AICTE.

In his message, Dr. Prashant Bhalla, Treasurer-EPSI & President-Manav Rachna Educational Institutions said: Due to focused central and state government policies, institutions are committed to enhancing the employability index in their respective institutes and related sectors. Public Private Partnership and role of NSDC and Sector Skill Councils, Ministry of Skill Development is redefining skilled education in its own humble way. The nation's position as the second largest education system in the world and its wide network of Universities providing skill-specific courses has catapulted India as a global hub for higher education. With the launch of Start-up India', Make in India', Skill India Programme', India is redefining skilled education in a big way and is fast registering a formidable presence in the global education scenario.