GoM to take up 3 key education Bills today

It is the proposed Bill to set up Education Tribunals,however,that has proved to be the sticky point with serious objections raised by both the Home and Finance Ministries to the need for such education-specific tribunals. It is because of the Tribunal Bill which is linked and referred to in the other Bills the Prohibition of Unfair Practices in Technical,Medical Educational Institutions and Universities Bill as well as the Accreditation Bill that these are stuck with the GoM headed by Sharad Pawar. On accreditation,the government is learnt to be more in favour of a voluntary accreditation system instead of a mandatory one to promote a liberal format.

While the HRD Ministry has been striving to convince other ministries about the need for the Tribunal Bill,there is not much consensus on it. While the Department of Expenditure is learnt to have been in favour of Unfair Practices Bill,it has held that the existing administrative tribunals are well-equipped to also adjudicate on education-related disputes if needed. The Home Ministry is also learnt to have said that there is no need for separate Education Tribunals. It further raised objection to certain provisions in the Bills that left the burden of proof on institutes concerned in some cases. While the HRD Ministry is learnt to have reversed the burden of proof clause for most cases,where they did not,it ran into trouble with the Home Ministry at the Cabinet meet last month.

The Educational Tribunal Bill provides for a three-tier system district,state and national level to deal with all disputes between students and institutions,teachers and institutions. At the bottom tier will be the district-level tribunals whose intervention can be sought when a complainants grievances remain un-addressed at all other avenues. The national-level tribunals will be empowered to adjudicate on any dispute arising between a higher education institute and even regulatory body. The idea is to provide a streamlined system for addressing education-related disputes instead of taking them to civil courts.

The Prohibition of Unfair Practices in Technical,Medical Educational Institutions and Universities Bill is rather ambitious and will empower the Centre to initiate criminal proceedings against even private institutes that charge capitation fee or cheat students through other unfair practices. The Centre will even be able to impose stiff penalties and fines against errant institutes as per the proposed legislations provisions. The mushrooming fake universities will also be checked through the provisions of this Bill,HRD ministry sources say.

That apart,the legislation also promises to crack down on institutes that promise a host of facilities to students at the time of admission and through their prospectus but fail to provide the same. Such institutes would be held liable for cheating and misleading parents and their wards with false claims.