Controversial education bill gets Gujarat governor's nod

The Times of India 11 February 2017

After thinking it over for nearly 10 months, Gujarat Governor Om Prakash Kohli approved the controversial Gujarat Higher Education Council Act-2016 on 1 February giving the state government overarching powers over the functioning of the state's universities, write Kapil Dave and Bharat Yagnik for The Times of India.

The Gujarat Higher Education Council bill was passed in the state assembly on 2 April last year amid protests by the opposition and teachers' federations of the state. The act will bring all the universities of the state under the ambit of a Higher Education Council which will be chaired by the chief minister.

This, according to the state chapter of All India Federation of University and College Teachers’ Organisations or AIFUCTO, will undermine all the existing bodies and structures in higher education, including the department of higher education; the university and its senate and syndicate; as well as the knowledge consortium of Gujarat. “If the bill has been approved in the old form, we have strong objections," said Gujarat President of AIFUCTO, Mahadev Desai. "There is absolute centralisation of powers which may threaten the autonomy of our education system."
Full report on The Times of India site

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