Reforming Higher Education Regulation: An Administrative and Governance Perspective

Overview

Excessive compliance requirements, procedural rigidity, and regulatory multiplicity have long plagued India’s higher education system. A change in administrative thought from control-oriented regulation to facilitative and outcome-based governance is reflected in the proposed reorganisation of the higher education regulatory system.

Administrative Justification

From the standpoint of public management, overlapping regulators frequently cause institutions to prioritise paperwork over academic performance, which is known as purpose displacement. By explicitly separating responsibilities including policy-making, regulation, certification, and funding, the reform seeks to streamline regulation. This is in line with the New Public Management tenets of efficiency, decentralisation, and performance orientation as well as the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.

Independence and Responsibility

A key component of the reform is granting institutional autonomy. Administrative theory acknowledges that professional organisations, such as universities, function best when given the authority to make administrative and academic decisions. However, transparent certification, result indicators, and disclosure standards combine autonomy with accountability. This signifies a change in regulation from inspection-based to trust-based.

Administrative Difficulties

Coordination between the Centre and the States, resistance to change in academics, and uneven institutional competence are some of the major obstacles. Reforms run the risk of benefiting just elite institutions in the absence of capacity-building and clear implementation procedures.

In conclusion

Higher education reform is a step towards more intelligent governance from an administrative perspective. It can maintain the public interest while improving efficiency, integrity, and academic performance if it is backed by accountability frameworks and institutional capacity-building.

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