EQUIP Project

• 27 May 2019

In accordance with the decision of the Prime Minister for finalizing a five-year vision plan for each Ministry, the Department of Higher Education of HRD Ministry has finalized and released a five-year vision plan named Education Quality Upgradation and Inclusion Programme (EQUIP).

• The ten Expert Groups drawn from senior academicians, administrators and industrialists, have suggested more than 50 initiatives that would transform the higher education sector completely. The Groups have set the following ten goals for higher education sector:
  • Strategies for expanding access: Double the Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) in higher education and resolve the geographically and socially skewed access to higher education institutions in India.
  • Towards global best teaching/learning process: Upgrade the quality of education to global standards.
  • Promoting Excellence: Position at least 50 Indian institutions among the top-1000 global universities.
  • Governance reforms: Introduce governance reforms in higher education for well-administered campuses
  • Assessment, Accreditation & Ranking systems: Accreditation of all institutions as an assurance of quality.
  • Promotion of research & innovation: Promote Research & Innovation ecosystems for positioning India in the Top-3 countries in the world in matters of knowledge creation.
  • Employability & entrepreneurship: Double the employability of the students passing out of higher education.
  • Using Technology for better reach: Harness education technology for expanding the reach and improving pedagogy.
  • Internationalization: Promote India as a global study destination.
  • Financing higher education: Achieve a quantum increase in investment in higher education.
• It is proposed to put together an action plan to give a multi-pronged boost to the higher education system in India. It is to be implemented between 2019-2024.
• It is described as the implementation plan for the National Education Policy. It is meant to bridge the gap between policy and implementation.
• Financing: The project will need to rely on extra-budgetary resources from the marketplace apart from Higher Education Financing Agency (HEFA).

Higher Education Financing Agency

• Higher Education Financing Agency (HEFA) was incorporated in 2017 as a joint venture of MHRD and Canara Bank with agreed equity participation in the ratio of 91% and 9% respectively.
• Its objective is to finance the creation of capital assets in premier educational institutions in India.
• It is registered under Section 8 [ Not-for-profit] under the Companies Act 2013 as a Union Govt company and as Non–deposit taking NBFC-ND with RBI.
• Recently, HEFA’s scope has been expanded to cover school education, educational institutes under the Ministry of Health, etc.