PRAGOTI

The Central Educational Institutions (CEI) Amendment Bill, 2010 was introduced in Rajyasabha on 6th August, 2010 with the objective of amending the CEI Act, 2006. The CEI Act, 2006 had provided for 27% reservation for OBCs in admission in Central Education Institutions along with a mandated seat increase of 54% over a maximum period of three years from the academic session commencing from the calendar year, 2007. However, the question that needs to be asked in the first place, is that why could not the mandatory reservation and 54% seat increase be implemented even after three years the CEI Act was passed?

 The Foreign Educational Institutions (Regulation of Entry and Operations) Bill has been tabled in the Parliament. The new bill allows for setting up of off-shore campuses for educational institutions, which would be given complete freedom to determine fee structure and admission criteria. The Bill draws from policy prescriptions that were enunciated in a Commerce Ministry consultation note in the first UPA government in 2005, and the rationale underlying the bill reflects the government’s continued subscription to the neoliberal ideology. The emphasis in the Bill pertains toward rampant commercialization of the higher education sector, a process which could have far reaching and unhealthy consequences for the sector. This note highlights the problems with the Bill and why it is needed to oppose its introduction in Parliament.