Govt hopes to introduce foreign education provider bill: Sibal

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Bangalore: Admitting that there was "resistance" to the foreign education providers bill, Union human resource development minister Kapil Sibal today said that the government would strive for a consensus on it and hoped to introduce it in the ongoing session of parliament.
"There is some resistance to the Bill. We will however strive for a consensus on it and hope to introduce it in this Parliament session," he said during his address (via video conference from Delhi) at the announcement of Infosys Prize 2009 here.

The Bill seeks regulating the entry and operations of foreign education providers in India. They would be given status of deemed universities in the country. Sibal said 1 lakh students from India go to the US every year for further studies and passing of such a bill would be a "win-win situation for us".

Observing that higher education worldwide was in a state of flux, he said "most of our (Indian) universities need vital changes in teaching and in contributing to local, regional and global economies".

"We must ensure that the universities have the independence to teach what they wish to and not be controlled by government," Sibal said. Underlining the need to establish high quality educational institutions, he said in the 11th plan the government proposes to establish 14 world-class "innovative" universities.