Government sets up high-level committee for strengthening assessment, accreditation of HEIs

NEW DELHI: The government of India has constituted a high-level committee for strengthening the Assessment and Accreditation of Higher Educational Institutions.

The high-level committee has been formed under the chairmanship of K Radhakrishnan, chairperson, Board of Governors, IIT Kanpur. He is also the chairperson of IIT Council Standing Committee. “The mandate of the Committee includes strengthening the Assessment & Accreditation processes and preparing a road map for the National Accreditation Council envisioned in the National Education Policy, 2020,” the official statement read.

“India has one of the largest and diverse education systems in the world. With the concerted efforts of the Government there has been widespread expansion in the higher education sector,” it said.

Explaining how accreditation plays a vital role in improving quality of education, the government’s statement said: “Accreditation assists the Higher Educational Institutions to understand their strengths and weaknesses through an informed review process, thus facilitating identification of internal areas of planning and resource allocation by them. Accreditation status of any Higher Educational Institution serves as a source of reliable information for the students, employers and the society regarding the quality of education being offered in the Institution.”

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The other members of the committee include Mridul Hazarika, vice-chancellor, Mahapurusha Srimanta Sankaradeva Viswavidyalaya, Assam; Bharat Bhasker, Professor, IIM Lucknow and the Joint Secretary, department of higher education, ministry of education.

National Accreditation Council

The ministry of education (MoE) in August had started work on creating the National Accreditation Council (NAC), combining the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) and National Board of Accreditation (NBA).

The NBA was established by the AICTE (All India Council of Technical Education) in order to assess the qualitative competence of the programmes offered by educational institution from diploma level to postgraduate level in engineering and technology, management, pharmacy, architecture and related disciplines, which are approved by AICTE.

On the other hand, the National Assessment And Accreditation Council (NAAC) conducts assessment and accreditation of institutions to derive an understanding of the ‘Quality Status’ of the institution. NAAC evaluates the institutions in terms of its performance related to the educational processes and outcomes, curriculum coverage, teaching-learning processes, faculty, research, infrastructure, learning resources, organisation, governance, financial well being and student services.