4 new education bills. Can students breathe easy?

ON May 3, 2010, the Parliament saw the introduction of four bills by Kapil Sibal, Minister for Human Resource Development. These bills, when passed could be the first step in redressing the many grievances students have about colleges and institutes they join.

Foreign Educational Institutions Regulation of Entry and Operations Bill 2010: It focuses on ensuring that only institutions that are accredited in their home countries could offer programmes in India.

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The National Accreditation Regulatory Authority for Higher Educational Institutions Bill 2010: Mandates compulsory accreditation of higher education programmes. This means that unapproved programmes will find it difficult to run in the country. When implemented with some more provisions, this must stem the rot of students being offered worthless programmes at its root itself.

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The Prohibition of Unfair Practices in Technical Educational Institutions, Medical Educational Institutions and University Bill 2010: This is a thoughtful initiative by the Minister because for the first time in independent India, cheating students is being treated as a crime. At least half the offences were part of the wish list we presented to the Hon' Minister when Careers360 ran its campaign "My career! My Life".

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The Educational Tribunal Bill 2010: This one, when passed will deal with the disputes that arise between the students, institute and its faculty.

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All four bills are yeomen initiatives and the Minister deserves our support. The bills require quite a few changes and Careers360 promises to work in the coming days with like minded parliamentarians to ensure that the students’ interests are kept paramount.

We invite our readers to look at the bills critically. Post and discuss your suggestions with other readers, below, or e-mail them to editor@careers360.com