OREANDA-NEWS. The Ministry of Human Resource Development has constituted a Council for Industry & Higher Education Collaboration (CIHEC) headed by HRD Minister, with representatives from Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs), National Institutes of Technology (NITs), Indian Institutes of Information Technology (IIIT) and industry including industry associations such as Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry (ASSOCHAM) and Progress Harmony and Development Chamber of Commerce & Industry (PHDCCI); private industry and Public Sector Undertaking (PSUs). CIHEC is envisioned to serve as a professional stakeholder group and identify issues and opportunities and facilitate development of strategies and innovative instruments of collaboration between Industry and Academia.

Under the Centrally Sponsored Scheme of Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA), the overall quality of existing State higher educational institutions is sought to be improved by ensuring their conformity to prescribed norms and standards and adoption of accreditation as a mandatory quality assurance framework. Certain academic, administrative and governance reforms are a precondition for receiving funding under RUSA. Under RUSA, participating States are permitted to mobilize 50% of the State contribution of funding through Public-Private Partnerships, Corporate Social Responsibility funds, philanthropic contributions etc.

The University Grants Commission (UGC) has taken various measures for educational reforms, such as the introduction of the semester system, the regular updating of curricula and Choice Based Credit Systems (CBCS), etc. The UGC has issued the UGC Minimum Qualifications for Appointment of Teachers and other Academic Staff in Universities and Colleges and Measures for the Maintenance of Standards in Higher Education, Regulation, 2010 for improving the standard of teaching in Indian universities. It has also issued the Mandatory Assessment and Accreditation of Higher Educational Institutions, Regulations, 2012 whereby all eligible higher Educational institutions are required to get themselves accredited.

The All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE) has informed that in order to promote quality of technical education, it has introduced various schemes such as Faculty Development Programme, Visiting Professorship, National Faculty in Engineering and Technology with Industrial Collaboration (NAFETIC), Quality Improvement Programme etc. It has also issued the Mandatory Accreditation of all Programs/Courses in Technical Education Institutions, University Departments and Institutions Deemed to be Universities imparting Technical Education Regulations, 2014 which makes it mandatory for each technical education institutions, university departments and institutions Deemed to be Universities imparting technical education to get all its programs/courses accredited.

This information was given by the Union Human Resource Development Minister, Smt. Smriti Irani in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha question.