National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC)

National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC)

Context

Union Human Resource Development Minister Shri Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank interacted with Heads of more than 45,000 Higher Educational Institutions across the country today through Webinar hosted by National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC), Bengaluru. The Minister addressed and Interacted with a Galaxy of Academicians comprising participation from Vice Chancellors / Registrars / Professors / IQAC heads / Principals / Faculty from across the Nation.

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.

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

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

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.

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)).

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.
• 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.