the union cabinets approval to set up the national council for higher education and research ncher is being seen as a step forward by both the academia and industry diptiman dewan reportsa holistic approachsanjay govind dhande director iit kanpur we inherited the british model of higher education which went through many distortions in the last 60 years the only recent reference is the higher education act of 1986 which is also getting outdated in the light of the evolution and explosion in higher education in the country today rather than taking an old model that gets outdated with every decade it is important to work on a higher education model in keeping with the needs of the present millennium we need a body that will react to the societal economic and aspirational changes in a manner that is different than under the nehruvian model or even the act of 1986 this is what the ncher will do the ncher will result in the integration of higher education which is a pressing need in the country it is a framework for higher education which needs to be conceived and adopted by the entire subcontinent it states for example that there should be a semester system credit based courses a minimum number of credits required to graduate etc however this does not mean that every course or university function will be defined by the ncher this authority will be akin to a think tank which will direct different units like regulation and quality assurance controlling malpractices etc which is a holistic approach instead of becoming a supercop in this new paradigm the funding regulatory and academic coordination roles are also well defined there is a need to envision higher education in a holistic manner and to build an ecosystem of higher education in india the ncher is definitely a step forward in the right direction a positive step rahul mullick partner pwc india the approval by the union cabinet for setting up the ncher is the first step towards greater integration than what can happen through multiple bodies and autonomy for higher education institutions in the country it is expected to enhance the development of higher education in india the private sector welcomes any development towards the promotion of quality education and research in the country and in that aspect we view this as a step forward on the ncher being tasked with developing a national curriculum it is a positive step too as the larger goal is setting higher quality standards an urgent requirement in the higher education space in india today the ncher would comprise a strong list of experts representing different states and professional bodies who will bring their individual competencies and perspectives this we believe leads to a consensus driven policymaking exercise which should support lesser roadblocks during implementation a consolidation of thoughts and ideas will only add value the industry requires highly skilled manpower but leaving aside the iims iits and a few