NAAC - GOVERNANCE
News: NAAC
Chairperson resigns to ‘safeguard sanctity of post’
What's in the news?
● National
Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) chairperson Bhushan Patwardhan
tendered his resignation.
● He
resigned days after alleging in a letter to the University Grants Commission
(UGC) that universities were obtaining “questionable grades” through unfair
means.
● An
inquiry commissioned found irregularities in the IT system and allocation of
assessors.
● The
inquiry also highlighted that nearly 70% of experts from the pool of around
4,000 assessors have not received any opportunity to make site visits.
About National Assessment and Accreditation Council:
● It's
an autonomous body under the
University Grants Commission.
● Established
in 1994.
● Headquarters:
Bengaluru.
● It
assesses and certifies Higher Education
Institution’s (HEIs) with gradings as part of accreditation.
● Through
a multi-layered process, a higher education institution learns whether it meets
the standards of quality set by the evaluator in terms of curriculum, faculty,
infrastructure, research, and other parameters.
● The
ratings of institutions range from A++
to C.
● If
an institution is graded D, it means it is not accredited.
Accreditation process:
1. Multi-layered
approach: It accredits a higher educational
institution through a multi-layered process whether it meets the standards of
quality set by the evaluator in terms of curriculum, faculty, infrastructure,
research, and other parameters.
2.
Accreditation is purely a voluntary
one for the colleges.
3.
The accreditation process starts with the institute approaching the NAAC for
assessment.
4.
The applicant has to submit a self-study
report (SSR) containing information related to quantitative and qualitative
metrics.
5.
The data is then validated by expert teams of the NAAC, followed by spot visits
by peer teams comprising assessors drawn from universities across India.
6.
The NAAC also explored the possibility of issuing Provisional Accreditation for Colleges (PAC), under which
one-year-old institutes could apply for accreditation that would be valid for
two years.
Accreditation status in India:
● Among
the states, Maharashtra accounts for the highest number of accredited colleges
at 1,869 followed by Karnataka’s 914, the second highest.
● Tamil Nadu
has the most accredited universities at 43.