In a significant boost to engineering courses offered by Mangaluru-based National Institute of Technology, Karnataka, its graduates can now expect greater acceptance the world over.
The institute’s nine B. Tech programmes have been given a five-year accreditation from the National Board of Accreditation — an autonomous body of the Union government set up to stimulate the quality of teaching and research.
With the accreditation, the programmes are now recognised by the Washington Accord signatories up to July, 2019, in the Tier-1 format.
The institute is the first NIT in the country to get the five-year recognition, according to the coordinator of National Institute of Technology, Karnataka’s Technical Education quality improvement programme II (TEQIP II) Prasad Krishna. Most others are eligible for the status for one year and its continuation will depend on the renewal of accreditation.
B.Tech courses are chemical engineering, civil engineering, electronics and communication engineering, electrical and electronics engineering, mechanical engineering, computer engineering, information technology, metallurgical and material engineering, and mining engineering.
According to the National Board of Accreditation website, the Washington Accord, originally signed among six countries in 1989 (NBA joined only in 2014) –, facilitates the entry of accredited courses in the Washington Accord registry.
Such an entry is an international recognition of the quality of undergraduate engineering education offered by the member country and “is an avenue to bring it into the world-class category. It encourages and facilitates the mobility of engineering graduates and professionals at international level.”
The National Board of Accreditation said that the Tier I programmes are offered by institutions with autonomy to review the content of the curriculum and make changes as a result of recommendations from accreditation visits.
These institutions have the fiscal and academic independence to engage in nimble continuous improvement actions in the local settings without waiting for the approval of outside bodies unlike the affiliated institutions.
The programmes will now be recognised by the Washington Accord signatories up to July, 2019
The institute is reportedly the first NIT to get the five-year recognition
