Pursuit For Global Excellence

Dr Kumar Gaurav is Head, Department of Economics, SNS College, Tekari, under Magadh University, Bodh Gaya, Bihar. He has obtained his PhD from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Patna. Gaurav has served as Teaching Assistant for two courses - ‘Infrastructure Economics’ and ‘Economics of IPR’ by NPTEL - a project of the Ministry of Education, Government of India. He has also worked with the Reserve Bank of India (Bhopal regional office) under RBI Young Scholar Scheme. His areas of research include international and regional trade, trade policy, FTAs, economic integration, NTMs and IPR. He is associate member of the UNCTAD Virtual Institute, Geneva, Switzerland and member of the Forum for Research in Empirical International Trade (FREIT), CA, USA.

He recently spoke to BW Education on the newly introduced accreditation system of National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC). Edited excerpts:

How are the higher educational institutions governed under the Indian education ecosystem?

Indian education system is a complex structure with multiple governing bodies for different types of programmes. These regulatory bodies uphold the academic standards, coordination and regulation of academic programmes and institutions. The major regulatory body is the University Grants Commission (UGC). Besides UGC, there are plethora of regulatory bodies in India. All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE), Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), Rehabilitation Council of India (RCI), National Medical Commission (NMC), Dental Council of India (DCI), Distance Education Council (DEC), Council of Architecture (COA), Bar Council of India (BCI) are among the major regulatory authorities in India under the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare and Ministry of Law and Justice, Government of India.

What is the role of NAAC in higher education in India? Why is NAAC accreditation important for academic institutions in India?

National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) was established in 1994 as an autonomous institution under the UGC aiming objective and continuous improvement to facilitate all higher education institutions (HEIs), empowering them to optimise their resources and capabilities. NAAC accreditation ensures quality of HEIs in India.

Based on NAAC accreditation, HEIs are eligible for UGC grants, Rashtriya Uchchatar Shikshsa Abhiyan (RUSA) grants and other financial support from central and state governments. Assessment under NAAC provides feedback to improve quality and performance of the educational institutes by identifying their strengths & opportunities and addressing weaknesses & threats. NAAC accreditation is crucial for HEIs since it helps the students to identify the quality of education of the institutions, assessing their infrastructure, research & development facilities, teaching, learning and best practices etc. that facilitates students to select the best institutions for their studies.

What are the different parameters on which higher educational institutions are accredited under the NAAC framework?

The seven criteria under the NAAC framework are Curricular Aspects; Teaching, Learning & Evaluation; Research, Innovation & Extensions; Infrastructure & Learning Resources; Student Support & Progression; Governance, Leadership & Management and Institutional Values & Best Practices. NAAC classifies the higher educational institutions in three types - University, Autonomous College and Affiliated/Constituent College. Grading system includes A, B, C and cumulative grade point average.

What is the difference between the previous NAAC accreditation system and the new system?

Accreditation for HEIs in the country is going through a paradigm shift. Widespread amendments in the accreditation procedure are introduced by NAAC. Previously, the grading system under NAAC included A, B, C and cumulative grade point average. However, the new system of ‘Binary Accreditation and Maturity-based Graded Accreditation’ has been initiated. Under the ‘Binary Accreditation’, NAAC will announce whether an HEI is accredited or not accredited without giving any scores and grades. In the ‘Maturity-based Graded Accreditation’, institutes will be categorised by the accreditation in the bracket of level 1 to 5. The aim is to encourage institutions to improve their levels from ‘level 1’ to ‘level 4’ as ‘Institutions of National Excellence’, and subsequently to ‘Institutions of Global Excellence for Multi-disciplinary Research and Education’ (level 5).

How do you look at the future of higher education in India in the next couple of decades? What are the global challenges and how can India take the leadership position in education?

Although, Indian HEIs are not performing satisfactorily presently at the global level as is visualised through world rankings of HEIs like Times Higher Education (THE) or the Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings, nonetheless India is striving hard to achieve fair position internationally. Across India, two rankings are initiated by the Government of India through its Ministry of Education - Atal Ranking of Institutions on Innovation Achievements (ARIIA) and National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF). ARIIA ranks institutions based on innovations and entrepreneurship ecosystem. NIRF grades the higher education institutions based on five factors. These two national rankings motivate HEIs to develop and perform better domestically which will in due course of time help in achieving world class status in higher education.

The government has also started the ‘Institute of Eminence (IoE)’ recognition scheme to empower HEIs to help them become world class teaching and research institutions. National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 is another step towards educational reforms and bringing Indian education system at par with global institutions. It would play a massive role in educational reforms like holistic development, experiential learning, research and innovation, digital integration and inclusive education. It is suggested to employ ONOD (One Nation One Data) platform to capture the common data used by all the agencies like UGC, AICTE and NAAC. The data will also be shared for All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE) and NIRF/ARIIA rankings.

Global challenges in the field of education for India are low PhD enrolments, weak research infrastructure & funding, lack of qualified faculties and dearth of technology. Through effective implementation of National Education Policy 2020, continuously investing in educational infrastructure, research development and providing universal access to quality education, India would certainly take the lead in higher education globally.

Upasana Sharan

BW Reporters The author works as a Senior Copy Editor with BW Businessworld and currently handles the education vertical. She has done her Post Graduate Diploma in English Journalism from the Indian Institute of Mass Communication (NER Campus, Aizawl).