Union human resources development minister Kapil Sibal on Tuesday expressed concern over radio-tagging of scores of Indian students duped by a “sham” US university. The minister asked students to be more “careful” in choosing their educational institutes abroad.
Stating that the external affairs ministry was handling the issue he said, “People should be careful when they go,” he said.
Mr Sibal allayed fears that the passage of Foreign Educational Institutions (Regulation of Entry and Operations) Bill would encourage fly-by-night institutes to set campuses in the country. “The bill has enough provisions to stop such institutes from entering into the country. Foreign universities have to go through separate registration process and should also fulfil the requirement of 20 years of existence,” Mr Kapil Sibal stated.
The much-awaited Innovation University Bill, a project which is understood to have a strong backing of Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, is likely to be introduced in Parliament soon.
Mr Sibal stated that he said the ministry had a meeting with the Planning Commission on Tuesday on the Innovation Universities bill and “they are on board now with us”.