CM KCR moots pvt varsities Bill

Hyderabad: The Telangana government wants the private universities to foray into the higher education field. Accordingly, the government is proposing to introduce Private Universities Bill soon.

Revealing this after inaugurating Rockwell International School at Kokapet here on Thursday, Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao said he had asked Deputy Chief Minister Kadiyam Srihari to examine the issue. He felt that if such a Bill is passed, it will allow private players to set up universities in the state, which will help lakhs of students.

It may be mentioned here that the Andhra Pradesh government is already in the process of inviting private varsities. An expert committee on private universities had toured northern states which have private universities and prepared a draft which was approved by the AP Cabinet recently.

The issue of liberalization of education is being discussed at General Agreement on Trade in Services GATS.

Trade in higher education services is a billion dollar industry, including recruitment of international students, establishment of university campuses abroad, franchised provision and online learning. The GATS is currently being negotiated under the auspices of the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

GATS is designed to increase trade liberalisation internationally and includes ‘education’ as a service sector. Examples of perceived ‘barriers’ in the trade in higher education services might include visa restrictions, taxation that disadvantages foreign institutions and accreditation arrangements that privilege domestic institutions and qualifications. Some view GATS as a positive force, accelerating the influx of

private and foreign providers of higher education into countries where domestic capacity is inadequate. Other take a more negative view, concerned that liberalisation may compromise important elements of quality assurance and permit private and foreign providers to monopolise the best students and most lucrative programmes.

Many aspects of GATS are open to interpretation, and many nations have yet to fully engage in the process, at least in respect of the potential implications for education. There is speculation that Indian government may accept the GATS agreement.