Education Finance Corporation
The Centre was in the process of setting up an Education Finance Corporation(EFC) to refinance educational loans to students, and a National Commission for Higher Education and Research (NCHER) for regulating higher education, Union HRD, Science and Technology Minister Kapil Sibal said today .
Speaking at the inauguration of the 98th Indian Science Congress at the SRM University here, he said the EFC was aimed at refinancing educational loans to students, especially from lower income families seeking to pursue professional courses, on ''much more favourable terms'' than available presently. ''The EFC will also provide access to low cost funds for not-for-profit educational institutions'', he added.
He said his Ministry's goal was to double the Gross Enrolment in higher education to atleast 30 per cent by the end of 2020. In real terms this means tripling of enrolments in the tertiary sector from around 13 million to 40 million.
''This will entail massive capacity building, both institutional as well as human, besides enhancing the quantum of teachers and faculty in colleges and universities, we have also to improve their quality'', he said, adding the government had taken several concurrent steps to address both these aspects.
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