Tightening the accreditation process in higher education institutions to ensure quality and excellence occupies a prime position on the road map for higher education laid down by the Union Ministry of Human Resource Development during the 12 Five Year Plan period.
The approach towards the higher education sector for the next five years clearly shows the need to develop new models of accreditation and systems for implementation. The objective will be to ensure that quality and excellence are sustained and upgraded in all institutions of higher education to match up to international levels in concurrence with the importance attached to the expansion of higher education in the country.
Regulatory body
University Grants Commission Chairman Ved Prakash had told The Hindu- EducationPlus in a recent interview that efforts were on to set up a national regulatory authority for assessment and accreditation.
“It will be laying down norms for assessment and accreditation. The National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) is going to be one of the agencies. Like that, we will have multiple agencies. You have [got] 31,324 colleges and 611 degree-awarding institutions [in the country]. This number is going to increase, as we are going to receive more and more students from the secondary sector to the post-secondary sector. We need more assessment and accrediting agencies,” Prof. Prakash said.
The proposed national authority for assessment and accreditation will lay down norms and policies for assessment of academic quality in higher educational institutions, besides undertaking a periodic review of norms and policies related to the accreditation process.
It will evolve transparency in processes and procedures of accreditation and formulate policies for providing information to the public in regard to all aspects of quality and performance of higher education institutions and programmes. The authority will specify and monitor standards on selection and training of experts for the purposes of accreditation by any accreditation agency in the country.
The proposal to strengthen the accreditation process evolved based on the finding that the rapid expansion in the number of institutions of higher education and their intake capacity cannot ensure simultaneous sustenance of quality. The UGC has recommended that the authority clearly identify the top-50 universities and top-50 colleges for special funding by various governmental agencies and industry.
An assessment by the National Assessment and Accreditation Council in June 2010 had revealed that not even 25 per cent of the total higher education institutions were accredited in the country. Only 30 per cent of the universities and 45 per cent of the colleges were found to be of quality to be ranked at ‘A' level among those accredited. An expert team appointed by the UGC had found that there was a severe shortage of well-qualified faculty and infrastructure in the higher educational sector across the country.
Prof. Prakash said that quality parameters cut across teaching and research, and associated systems needed sustained attention and policy focus. The commission had been urging the institutions of higher learning in the country for their periodic assessment and accreditation and linking the development grant contingent upon their being assessed and accredited.
The UGC's support has been effected through general development grants with a substantial allocation for improving the infrastructure in universities and colleges; incentivising new initiatives; and strengthening of the State universities and the college sector.
Besides making assessment and accreditation of institutions of higher education, the UGC has been supporting and encouraging universities and colleges to establish internal quality assurance centres (IQACs) to focus continually on strategies and programmes for promotion of quality in each university and college.
Senior Ministry officials pointed out that the possibility of mandatory accreditation, along with supplementary measures, would generate pressure on the higher education system to evolve adequate norms and standards and approaches to assessment. The twin objectives of national-level coverage and mandatory accreditation of all higher education institutions should be undertaken in a time-bound manner.
The UGC's plan document pointed out that accreditation by NAAC had been present for the past several years, but so far only 1,415 of the 31,324 colleges and 75 of the 534 universities had been covered for their accreditation.
The expert team of the commission that compiled the plan document suggested accreditation of various academic programmes, along with the accreditation of universities and colleges to ensure the quality of courses offered to the students.
“This may be undertaken by a different national accreditation authority. Total accreditation of a university falsely covers up poor performing departments and disciplines of a university and also the faculty in a university, if the accreditation is done for the university as a whole. In the U.S. and many other advanced countries, accreditation is discipline-wise, such as engineering sciences, management sciences, physical and chemical sciences, life sciences, social sciences and humanities, etc., in addition to the overall university accreditation. The schools/disciplines concerned of the university should offer for national accreditation of the disciplines, and this actually gives a clear and true picture to the students for choosing universities and to the employers for choosing the universities for campus placements,” it said.
State council
The Kerala government has plans to set up a State accreditation and assessment council soon. The proposal found place in Governor H.R. Bhardwaj's customary address at the first session of the Assembly on March 1.
The council will carry out a continuous and comprehensive assessment of the quality of teachers and educational institutions in the State. It will be modelled on the National Accreditation and Assessment Council and will help the council decide where to direct its financial assistance. Arts and science colleges and education colleges across the State will come under the purview of the council.
The State-level body will encourage universities and colleges for self-evaluation and continuous monitoring to uphold standards in higher education. Steps will be taken to set up internal quality assessment cells to ensure internal quality assessment for improvement and maintenance of quality.
The colleges will be required to submit annual quality assessment reports and will have to undertake quality assurance and enhancement activities through the IQACs in curriculum innovation, teaching-learning process, and examinations reforms. It will serve as an approving and monitoring body and a nodal agency for other accrediting bodies established by the Centre.
