Prof Yashpal backs creation of CHER

Updated on: Tuesday, September 08, 2009

Mumbai: Eminent science communicator, Professor Yashpal, has backed the creation of a Commission for Higher Education and Research (CHER) by scrapping all existing higher education regulatory/ monitoring bodies and asked the teaching community to support it.

"The existing regulatory bodies like Medical Council of India, University Grants Commission and All India Council for Technical Education should be replaced by a seven-member commission for Higher Education and Research," Yashpal said, addressing science educators in the city at the Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education.

The Centre should take a decision on it soon as it is important in the context of globalisation with several private players coming into the field of higher education in an unprecedented manner, he said.

"There seems to be some resistance mainly in the case of Medical Council of India and the teaching community should take the matter to the Prime Minister's office to enable the formation of CHER," the 82-year-old former UGC Chairman said.

Teachers should realise that there is tremendous growth of private and rich players in higher education which was not there 20 years back, he said.

"Efforts should be made to persuade the centre to create CHER under an Act of Parliament. We have also recommended this to buffer the new regulator against any political pressure that the position of chairperson of the proposed commission be analogous to that of election commissioners," Yashpal said.

Expressing concern on the mushrooming of engineering and management colleges that had "largely become business entities dispensing very poor quality education," Yashpal called for a complete ban on grant of 'deemed' status.

The Yashpal committee had in its report submitted to the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) on June 24 said a plethora of regulatory bodies like UGC, AICTE, NCTE be replaced by a seven-member CHER.

It also said that the jurisdiction of other regulators like the Medical Council of India, Bar Council of India and others be confined to administrative matters with the universities taking up their academic responsibilities.

Prof Yashpal backs creation of CHER

More Education news