UGC must take action against educational insitutions misusing NEP: Committee

M. Thambidurai, Chairman of the Committee on Government Assurances in the Rajya Sabha, has highlighted concerns about educational institutions exploiting the New Education Policy (NEP) 2020 to admit more students than their prescribed limits.

According to Thambidurai, this practice has led to the emergence of a monopolistic situation that not only undermines the goal of the NEP 2020 but also discourages the behavior among some large educational institutions, leaving smaller institutions struggling to fill their seats and underutilizing their infrastructure and resources.

In the 78th report presented to the Rajya Sabha on Aug 7, the committee expressed dissatisfaction with the lack of action by the University Grants Commission (UGC) in addressing these issues.

The report recommended that the UGC should implement strict measures against large institutions engaging in monopolistic practices.

The issue of disproportionate admissions was brought up during a presentation by Ministry of Education officials regarding a pending assurance related to higher and vocational education reforms.

The Department of Higher Education had requested the committee to dismiss the assurance, but the committee refused.

Thambidurai noted that vocational courses are often viewed as inferior, leading to low enrollment rates. Students are hesitant to enroll in these courses due to perceived lower quality, high fees, extended career paths, and limited job prospects.

As a result, many vocational and professional courses have numerous vacant seats.

The committee emphasized the need for a well-coordinated and effective system for delivering vocational training to better align with the demands of the job market and improve student engagement.

On this, Thambidurai said that “students are not so eager to join vocational courses being offered as they find such courses inferior and probably do not foresee getting dignified and lucrative employment after completion of such courses.”

“This is evident as a large number of seats for various vocational and professional courses remain vacant because of various reasons, such as the high fee structure for such courses, the relatively longer career path, the lack of lucrative employment opportunities after completing such courses, etc. The committee noted the country needs to develop a “well-coordinated and robust system of imparting vocational training,” he added.