Govt planning Bill to make capitation fee cognisable offence

Updated on: Tuesday, February 08, 2011

Government will soon bring a bill which will make levy of capitation fee by educational institutes a cognisable offence, Union HRD Minister Kapil Sibal said.

Educational Malpractices Bill proposes to prosecute institutions who provide wrong information and levy capitation fee, he said, delivering the 8th Nani A Palkhiwala Memorial Lecture on 'Emerging Scenario in the Field of Education'.

Sibal said he was for opening up of the education sector and ending the license raj.

"The new bill does not propose for inspection of educational institutions. Instead, at the start of the academic year, the institutions have to themselves declare on
their website information about infrastructure, fees, faculty and the kinds of service they provide. The information will be stored in the HRD Ministry and if the facts are wrong, the Ministry shall prosecute the institutions," he said.

The Centre will announce the national vocational qualification framework in May. The framework will provide vocational courses for students from Std 9 to 12th, he said.

Stating that education was all about expanding one's mind, Sibal said Foreign Education Providers Bill envisages collaboration with Indian universities and investment in the skill development courses.

The minister lamented that a large number of politicians own educational institutions and this was standing in the way of reforms in the key sector.

Education policies needed to be developed on what the children want and not what the government wants, he said. "I believe democracy is freedom in the classroom."

Sibal said he favours continuous and comprehensive evaluation of the attributes of a child rather than a board exam to test his/her memory. "We need to change the way we teach our children."
Stating that the Right to Education Act cannot be enforced overnight, the minister said it needs three years for implementation and five years in the context of teachers acquiring minimum qualifications.

"We need the co-operation of the civil society and all the stakeholders in education. The Centre cannot do it alone."

Sibal said education was a national priority which requires national effort. "No politics should be brought into this."

He called for addressing the wide chasm in the field of education. "In a country of 1.2 billion people, 220 million go to school, of which only 13 million reach college. This is a frightening scenario," he said.

Earlier, the Nani Palkhiwala award for outstanding work in upholding civil liberties was given to Chaman Lal, a former IPS officer who worked in Punjab and Nagaland when terrorism was at its peak.

Govt planning Bill to make capitation fee cognisable offence

More Education news