A question of credibility

The HRD ministry has sent a list of ‘Non-NBA premier institutes’ and ‘Institutes of National Importance’ to the Kuwait government to resolve the invalidation of engineering degrees, as Indian professionals face job uncertainties in West Asia. What can be done to improve the creditability of our degrees abroad?

Mudit Chauhan, PGPM, MDI, Gurgugram

The HRD ministry needs to focus on authenticating colleges other than those accredited by the National Board of Accreditation (NBA). A regulatory push is also needed to ensure that the premier colleges are recognised by the board to verify the quality of a college. The funds received from the government should depend on their accreditation grade to motivate them towards achieving a better reputation. Moreover, the authorities should also work on policies to build the global stature of Indian colleges.

Rishi Mohan, III, BA Hons Political Science, Lucknow University, Uttar Pradesh

This proactive step by HRD ministry is a move in the right direction which will affect Indian students positively. It will provide students with a ray of hope and motivate them to work hard, in order to pursue their dream jobs abroad.

To make Indian degrees globally acceptable, Indian universities must be streamlined so that major accreditation institutes are merged into one internationally recognised macro unit which will help avoid the problem of invalid degrees.

Adarsh Choudhury, Graduate 2018, B. Tech, Mechanical Engineering, Delhi Technological University

Lack of accreditation is one of the major reasons for Indian students’ inability to bag core jobs abroad. Companies are cautious about hiring Indian students because of the lack of a systematised mechanism that fulfils international standards. Development of standardised norms, against which the quality of the country’s engineering colleges can be measured will help the Indian education system become more reliable and transparent for the recruiters.

Devansh Goel, Final year, MBBS, AIIMS, Rishikesh

Every government holds the right to employ the best professionals to serve their country, and the only way to gauge applicants’ creditability is to trust accreditation committees. But Kuwait’s decision to trust only the National Board of Accreditation for accreditation of degrees while disregarding the premier universities such as IITs is a nasty move. It might demoralise Indian professionals working in Kuwait and other gulf countries. The problem is the low ranking of Indian universities, which should be worked on.