Private Initiatives in Higher Education: Enabling Legislations, Regulations and Judicial Interpretations in India

Abstract

In India the Government largely provides education. However, the scarcity of public funds and inefficiency, called for private participation in the higher education sector in India. This paper examines the private initiatives in this through enabling legislations and corresponding governmental regulation through various agencies and judicial decisions interpreting the concerned provisions in the backdrop of liberalisation of the sector under the WTO and General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS). The findings, coupled with the existing literature on private initiatives in higher education, suggest the need for greater private participation in the Indian higher education sector and unified norms for its regulation.

Keywords: GATS, higher education, privatisation, legislations and judicial decisions