Govt might rope in donors to lift higher edu: Report

As part of its Education Quality Upgradation and Inclusion Programme (EQUIP), the government is planning to introduce direct transfer for students in top educational institutions like the IITs, in place of fee subsidy. The other plan is to set up a national crowdfunding platform to aid students and institutes.

'Each One, Teach One,' the key proposal, is a nationwide movement that would encourage families to support the educational needs of at least one student. A national digital platform will connect the donors with students and institutions and operate the donations, said a report in The Economic Times.

The report stated that the aim is to support over 10 lakh students across disciplines, based on specified criteria, by raising over Rs. 25,000 crore.

The Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry has constituted 10 expert groups to build EQUIP, a five-year project aimed at revamping higher education in India. The recommendations come from these groups at the helm of which are prominent names like NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant, former Infosys CEO and one of its co-founders Kris Gopalakrishnan, former finance secretary and now non-executive chairman of Bank of Baroda Hasmukh Adhia, principal scientific advisor to the government of India K VijayRaghavan and Rediff founder & CEO Ajit Balakrishnan.

The EQUIP's expert group on Higher Education Financing has also suggested a massive government funding directly linked to the students' accounts, in addition to fee rationalisation at institutions to ensure accountability. Its other recommendations include reimbursing students' tuition fee through a direct benefit transfer (DBT) instead of subsidising institutes like the IITs and full tax exemption on donations towards higher education to give alumni and philanthropic contributions a push.

In addition to these recommendations, it suggests better Foreign Contribution (regulation) Act, 2010 (FCRA) provisions to attract foreign donations, GST waiver or reduction on educational services and setting up of philanthropy offices in educational institutes.

A lot of issues addressed in the Draft National Education Policy released last week are the same as that of the EQUIP. While the policy bats for a hands-off approach towards fee regulation in schools and higher education, it has asked the institutes to make sure that there is full financial disclosure. It also asks for a comprehensive scholarship system and polices to ensure that the students from disadvantaged sections are not short-changed.

The EQUIP is expected to be taken to the Cabinet and rolled out within the first 100 days of the government.