Centre to close failing colleges

New Delhi: In a major move, the Narendra Modi government may soon ask “underperforming” educational institutions to close down if they do not show adequate positive results in audit by the University Grants Commission.

“The underperforming educational institutions may be asked to close down or merge with others if they fail to improve their performance,” sources said. It is understood that there is a UGC-backed mentoring programme to improve quality in educational institutions. The Union HRD ministry has chalked out a roadmap for the restructuring of the system to make it more autonomous and encourage minimal regulation.

Varsities listed under 3 grades
The move comes as the government is all set to overhaul the education regulator UGC. Union minister Arun Jaitley had announced restructuring of the UGC and several other education reforms in the budget speech in February.

“It is being considered that an audit be conducted of all the educational institutions and varsities, and they be classified into three broad categories,” sources stated.

It is understood that as per the audit, there will be three categories namely, “outstanding” institutions, institutions with “scope for improvement” and “underperforming” institutions.

The first category institutions will be rewarded with more autonomy and grants. While officials are expected to suggest measures to improve quality in the second category by suggesting corrective measures.

“The varsities and institutions identified in the third category will be directed to the UGC to mentor them. However, if they fail to do so, the HRD ministry is likely to consider their closure or merger with other institutions,” they said.