Private institutes in Tamil Nadu were ahead of colleges in other parts of the country in getting themselves accredited, even before accreditation was made mandatory this year, said Jagannath Patil, deputy advisor, National Assessment and Accreditation Council (Naac), an organisation that assesses and accredits institutions of higher education in India.
Mr. Patil was a speaker at a seminar on effective governance organised by the internal quality assurance cell of Ethiraj College for Women.
He said while the State was home to colleges with years of accreditation, government-run colleges were yet to take the process seriously.
“The scorecard of Tamil Nadu in terms of quality education is much better than that of other States but the institutes here should now look at attracting students from other States and countries,” said Mr. Patil.
The need of the hour was to slowly move away from the process of affiliation and let colleges with many years of experience be given the autonomy to make their own decisions.
“Universities in Bangalore and Mumbai have more than 800 colleges affiliated to one university. A university cannot ideally have more than 100 colleges to manage, otherwise it is reduced to being a stamping body,” he said.
Both Anna University and University of Madras missed the NAAC accreditation last year. While the review process for the latter is to begin next week, Anna University will undergo evaluation in June.
Officials at University of Madras said this time care had been taken to submit the documents and applications before time. “We are hopeful the review committee will visit us soon and grant us grades by the end of April,” an official said.
