The All India Parents’ Association (AIPA) in Puducherry has urged the Union Education Ministry to hold further stakeholder consultations on the Draft UGC Regulations, 2025, to review contentious provisions that could have a direct and long-term bearing on academic standards.

In a memorandum to Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, AIPA president K.R. Mathew expressed misgivings regarding certain provisions, including those for revising the selection process for Vice-Chancellors, appointing teachers based on qualifications that may differ from their previous degrees, establishing minimum qualifications for academic staff and for promoting flexibility in appointments.

The memorandum contended that the proposal for flexibility in qualifications may lead to a dilution of academic standards in higher education while the involvement of chancellors and governors in appointing Vice-Chancellors raised concerns about political interference in academic governance. There is also the fear that the regulations may pave the way for the corporatisation of educational institutions, prioritising profit over educational quality, AIPA says.

According to AIPA, while the stated goal of revising the selection process for Vice-Chancellors is to promote transparency and expand eligibility criteria, the addition of a third category — widening the choice vis-a-vis the 2018 regulations that confined selection to either a professor in a higher education institution or one at a senior level in a reputed research or academic administrative organisation — could pave the way for powerful industrialists to control universities as V-Cs.

On the UGC’s aim to establish minimum qualifications for academic staff, and promoting flexibility in appointments, the AIPA felt it had to be more concrete as there was potential for dilution of academic standards and the corporatisation of educational institutions. It also opposed the regulations that allow universities to appoint teachers based on qualifications that may differ from their previous degrees.

The decision to allow individuals to qualify for faculty positions based on their performance in a subject of their choice in the UGC-NET, regardless of whether their degrees are in different disciplines, aligns with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 and the broader goals of creating a multidisciplinary, flexible, and inclusive academic ecosystem. It suggested restricting candidates to their specific areas of formal qualification.

The AIPA also felt that the promotion of Indian languages in the new UGC regulation, which was meant to encourage their use in academic publications, may not be practical in the interest of international competition and standards.