Most of the Indian colleges are run by private sector: Govt

On Thursday, the Union education ministry informed the Rajya Sabha that the majority of Indian colleges are run by the private sector.

As per the All India Survey of Higher Education (AISHE), the total number of private colleges in India known to the government are 31,390. Furthermore, there are 388 private universities and 88 private deemed to be universities functioning in India.

According to AISHE, as of 2019-20, there are 1,043 Universities and 42,343 colleges in the country, which suggest that over 70% of the colleges are managed by private players. The ministry also stated that the fee structure in these private colleges is either decided by the university or institutions or by the state government.

The official data says a minimum of 60.5% of the colleges are located in the rural area and 10.75% are exclusively for female students.

The education minister Dharmendra Pradhan said in a written reply, "Private colleges are affiliated to universities and the degrees are awarded only by their affiliating University. Private universities and deemed to be universities are empowered to award degrees that are specified by the UGC under Section 22 of the UGC Act, 1956. Courses can be offered under regular mode at their main campuses with the prior approval of the statutory council(s) concerned. These universities can also offer courses under distance or online mode in accordance with the UGC regulations."

“All universities are autonomous in nature, hence, they can decide their own curriculum, subject to the approval of respective statutory councils. However, the UGC (university grants commission) has framed model curriculum for various courses, which is followed by private universities with certain freedom. Private deemed to be universities are required to adopt learning outcome based curriculum framework (LOCF) and revise curriculum at regular intervals," he added.

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