The National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) is an organisation that evaluates and certifies Higher Educational Institutes (HEIs) in India. Students preparing for the IAS Exam or any other Government Exam should be aware of this topic.
This topic can be classified under “Education” in General Studies paper 2 of the UPSC Syllabus.
IAS aspirants can correlate such topics with current affairs in order to score more.
NAAC Chairperson Bhushan Patwardhan resigned in March 2023, a few days after alleging that people with vested interests are indulging in malpractices, leading to the awarding of questionable grades to some institutions.
- He had based his allegations on his own experiences as well as the findings of an inquiry he commissioned after taking charge.
- The inquiry committee commissioned by Patwardhan was led by JP Singh Joreel, the director of Information and Library Network, also a UGC centre.
- It found that the NAAC’s accreditation process was mired in irregularities.
- According to the inquiry report, some individuals without authority have full access to the NAAC’s internal system.
- It also found that the IT system of the agency was found “compromised”.
- Around 70% of experts from the pool of around 4,000 assessors have not received any opportunity to make site visits, while some have visited multiple times.
- Assessors were being allocated “arbitrarily”.
- This is leading to potential cases of conflict of interest.
Why are so few institutes accredited?
- According to current and former officials of the NAAC, the fear of obtaining poor grades holds institutions back from applying.
- In 2019, the UGC launched a scheme named ‘Paramarsh’ to address the issue.
- Under the scheme, some of the best-performing institutes were identified to serve as mentors to at least five institutes aspiring to get accredited.
- In 2022, 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.
- Currently, only institutes that are at least six years old, or from where at least two batches of students have graduated, can apply.
- The accreditation is valid for five years.
What is NAAC?
- It is an organisation that assesses and accredits higher education institutions (HEIs) in India.
- It is an autonomous body funded by the University Grants Commission (UGC).
- It is an outcome of the recommendations of the National Policy in Education (1986) which laid special emphasis on upholding the quality of higher education in India.
- Headquartered in Bangalore.
- The mandate of the NAAC as reflected in its vision statement is in making quality assurance an integral part of the functioning of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs).
- The NAAC functions through its General Council (GC) and Executive Committee (EC) comprising of educational administrators, policymakers and senior academicians from the cross-section of Indian higher education system.
Aspirants preparing for the upcoming IAS Exam must go through the information mentioned further below in this article.
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NAAC Procedure
The process of accreditation by NAAC was completely done on-site by a group of assessors. After the Revised Accreditation Framework in 2017, the following two-stage process is followed:
- Stage 1
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- Institutions keen to be assessed should submit an Institutional Information for Quality Assessment (IIQA) and Self Study Report (SSR) to NAAC. The data submitted will then be validated.
- Stage 2
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- This assessment will be based on various components, such as the number of faculties, the number of research journals in the library, and the number of international publications produced by the institute.
Various disciplinary measures are put in place for institutes and colleges for submitting incorrect data.
The on-site grading is still a part of the assessment process. It is just 30% of the process and is the last part of the NAAC assessment procedure.
Mission of NAAC
- To arrange for periodic assessment and accreditation of institutions of higher education or units thereof, or specific academic programs or projects;
- To stimulate the academic environment for the promotion of quality of teaching-learning and research in higher education institutions;
- To encourage self-evaluation, accountability, autonomy and innovations in higher education;
- To undertake quality-related research studies, consultancy and training programs, and
- To collaborate with other stakeholders of higher education for quality evaluation, promotion and sustenance.
Functions of NAAC
- Periodic assessment and accreditation of institutions of higher education.
- Stimulate the academic environment for the promotion of the quality of teaching-learning and research in higher education institutions.
- Encourage self-evaluation, accountability, autonomy and innovations in higher education.
- Undertake quality-related research studies, consultancy and training programmes.
- Collaborate with other stakeholders of higher education for quality evaluation, promotion and sustenance.
- HEIs with a record of at least two batches of students graduated, or that have been in existence for six years, whichever is earlier, are eligible to apply for the process of Assessment and Accreditation (A&A) of NAAC.
- The NAAC accreditation does not cover distance education units of HEIs and offshore campuses.
- It also does not accredit institutions providing technical education (that is covered by the National Board of Accreditation (NBA), an organization established by the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE)).
Also, read the National Skills Qualifications Framework (NSQF)
Aspirants can check out the following links relevant for the preparation of the upcoming UPSC examination –
Paramarsh Scheme
- Paramarsh – is a scheme for mentoring the National Accreditation and Assessment Council (NAAC) accreditation aspirant institutions to promote quality assurance in Higher Education.
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- The scheme will be operationalized through a “Hub & Spoke” model wherein the mentor institution, called the “Hub” is centralized and will have the responsibility of guiding the mentee institution through the “Spoke” i.e. through the services provided to the mentee for self-improvement.
- It would also facilitate the sharing of information, knowledge and opportunities for research collaboration and faculty development in the mentee institutions.
- It would aid in improving the accreditation culture, as the scheme aims at accrediting all the Higher Education Institutions by 2022.
National Assessment and Accreditation Council:- Download PDF Here
Related links are given below for candidates’ convenience in the preparation of the UPSC 2023 exam.
The information in the article is also relevant for Government Exam aspirants.
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