Centre introduces 4 education Bills in LS

Going forward with on its agenda to reform the education sector, the Union government on Monday introduced four major Bills.

The Speaker, Ms Meira Kumar, asked the HRD minister, Mr Kapil Sibal, to introduce the four Bills assigned against his name in the order paper.

One of the most important Bills to be introduced was the Foreign Educational Institutions (Regulation of Entry and Operations) Bill.

The Bill seeks to allow the entry and operation of foreign universities in the country.

The major provisions of the Bill have conditions like Rs 50 crore as corpus fund to be deposited by the aspiring institute to be allowed to operate.

Prohibition of Unfair Practices in Technical Educational Institutions, Medical Educational Institutions and University Bill introduced by the HRD minister aims to book institutes and their administrators if they indulge in fraud.

While the third Bill, the Educational Tribunal Bill, provides for setting up of tribunals to settle all types of disputes, including any type of mal-practice or harassment of students.

The fourth Bill introduced was the National Accreditation Regulatory Authority for Higher Educational Institutions Bill.

The proposed agency will assess and accredit institutions of higher education to ensure high standards