The National Assessment and Accreditation Council, the autonomous body which accredits higher education institutions (HEIs) in India, has come out with a revised accreditation framework designed to promote transparency in the assessment process.
“The idea is to make the process more rigorous, transparent and efficient,” said a NAAC official.
According to a release, instead of the earlier process which was completely done on-site by a group of assessors, there will now be two stages of assessment, of which 70% will be done off-site at NAAC.
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. Punitive measures have been put in place for colleges submitting incorrect data. After this assessment, 30% of ranking is based on on-site grading by NAAC officials. This will make the process more objective as it reduces the human element, the official added.
The initial assessment will be based on various components, such as number of faculty, number of research journals in the library, and number of international publications produced by the institute.
A national level consultation in this regard was held on April 25 in New Delhi and the draft process tested at select institutes across the country, said NAAC officials.