INDIA: New national higher education council

Heralding greater cohesion in higher education, Indian President Pratibha Patil said a National Council for Higher Education would be set up to reform regulatory institutions, reports The Economic Times. Along with the formulation of a 'brain gain' policy, work on the council will be initiated in the next 100 days.

Other areas of concerted action include enactment of the Right to Free and Compulsory Education Bill, setting up a National Female Literacy Mission, strengthening of scholarship and education loan provisions.

The focus is on higher education. Efforts will not be limited to mere expansion, but reform in the regulatory framework. The previous government did make an effort to put in place an overarching regulatory framework. Efforts to ensure greater coordination among 13-odd regulatory bodies through an overarching set-up had to be shelved due to turf wars and political compulsions of a coalition government.
Full report on The Economic Times site