IIT Foundation to take over accreditation of engineering colleges

NEW DELHI, OCTOBER 21: The newly set-up IIT Foundation for Accreditation and Assessment (IFAA) will take over from the National Board of Accreditation (NBA) and be in charge of accrediting colleges and universities offering engineering and science education.

The self-sustaining company, a non-profit set up under the Companies Act 2013, will look to make the accreditation process faster and more transparent. IIT Madras, IIT Delhi and IIT Kharagpur are the founding partners of the foundation which was established on April 1, 2019.

The IFAA will appoint a CEO from amongst the serving or retired IIT faculty who will be responsible for the overall operation, academic, administrative and financial functions of the company.

“The company will address and participate in any open call or invitation to extend its services to the University Grants Commission (UGC) or All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) for undertaking accreditation activities. The company will be free from any interference from the ministry or IITs,” said a senior official of IIT Council to PTI. The UGC and AICTE are higher education regulators.

Former HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar had first considered making IITs parallel assessors alongside the NBA and the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) by setting up accreditation centres in the institutions, says the IIT Delhi website.

The idea was rejected by several IIT directors who argued the role would dilute their core mandate of teaching and research in technical education but they agreed to provide limited assistance and expertise. Later, it was decided to set up a company which operates on a self-sustainable model.