Role of NAAC in Promoting Quality in Higher Education

                        

Topic: Role of NAAC in Promoting Quality in Higher Education     

                                                      CONTENT

1.   Introduction

2. Global culture in higher education institutions of India

3. Role of Higher Education in the Society

4. Strategies for Quality Improvement in Higher Education

·        4.1 Infrastructure

·        4.2 Instructional  Facilities

·        4.3 Human Resources

5. NAAC’s Perspectives for Quality Assurance in Higher Education

·        5.1 Governance

·        5.2 Vision

·        5.3 Mission

·        5.4 Value Framework

·        5.5 The Methodology

·        5.6 Criteria for Assessment

6. Quality Promotion & Sustenance Activity

·        6.1 Internal Quality Assurance Cell (IQAC)

7. Re –Accreditation

·        7.1 The Methodology for Re-Accreditation

·        7.2 Appeals Mechanism

·        Provision for Grade Improvement

8. Student Participation in Quality Enhancement

9. Future of accreditation system for Education sector

10. Conclusion

1. INTRODUCTION

         India is a developing country. Different types of religious people are living in the country. We have thousand years of tradition and culture. We are living in the technological and modern world Education is the primary need for all in the society. It is the duty of government to provide free education to all up to fourteen years. Universal higher education is our new aim. Now majority of professional educational institutions are in private sector. There are some benefits and losses due to privatization of professional education.

           The Indian higher education system is in a constant state of change and flux due to increasing needs of expanding needs to higher education, impact of technology on the delivery of education, increasing private participation and the impact of globalization. Taking cognizance of these developments and the role of higher education in society, NAAC has developed.

2. GLOBAL CULTURE IN HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS OF INDIA

        Nations are struggling to cope with the demands of quality education and a phenomenal increase in the number of students wanting to go in for higher education. Both the quality and quantity of education requires better academic and physical infrastructure a greater financial resources.

       For the first time India is  recognized internationally as a nation , which is providing value added trained human power at a premier level Indian experts are now persons who generate wealth and also are the backbone in many global science and technology revolutions. It is interesting to note that the employment opportunity pattern is also undergoing a change. The world will be looking for trained persons in all basic fields with a sound knowledge base in their core discipline and with the ability to adapt to new demands

         The universalization of the job market and the acceptance of Indian skills at a global level have opened up opportunities for the creation of new jobs internally. Today India has one of the world’s largest stocks of technology & professionally trained manpower Professionals and technologists educated in India in various colleges /universities (not just IIT/IIM alone) are respected and in demand all over the world. Universities in developed nations are aggressive in attracting students from other countries. India should encourage the same policy. Attracting non-resident Indians and foreign students would bring invaluable income to the universities. Indian institutions should be given special provisions to enable foreign students to be admitted outside the present system of quotas.

             India needs to become innovative in its higher education. Twinning programs with foreign universities should be encouraged. These programs will result on foreign exchange saving an earning for the university and country. Indian universities and institutions should be enabled to open campuses abroad, especially in neighboring friendly countries of Asia and Africa and in countries with Indian origin populations. Also we should focus on Teacher’s training; the teachers should be paid well. Here again more flexibility should be given to institutions to function with accountability, but at the same time they should maintain quality. India with a large and growing youth population can benefit socially and economically, if it can create opportunities for a lagged percentage-(30 %to 40%) of the youth to acquire relevant, good quality higher education with an inclusive and flexible approach.

3. ROLE OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN THE SOCIETY

         Higher education is the backbone of all the societies. Quality of higher education decides the quality of human resources in the country. Higher education is the source in all walks of life and therefore supplies much needed human resources in management, planning, design, teaching, and research. Scientific and technological advancement and economic growth of a country depends on higher education system. Higher education also provides opportunities for lifelong learning, allowing people to upgrade their knowledge and skills from time to time based on social needs.

             The Kothari commission (1966) listed the following roles of higher education institutions in the modern society.

1. To seek and cultivate new knowledge, to engage vigorously and fearlessly in the pursuit of truth, and to interpret old knowledge and benefits in the light of new needs and discoveries.

2. To provide right kind of leadership in all walks of life, to identify gifted youth and help them.

3. To provide the society with competent men and women trained in agriculture, arts, medicine, science, and technology and various other professions.

4. To promote quality and social justice, and to reduce social and cultural differences.

    The report of UNESCO International commission on Education in the 21^st Century titled “Learning: The Treasure Within” emphasized four pillars of education. Learning to know, Learning to Do, Learning to live together and learning to be. Higher education intends to include all these four in individuals and the society.

4. STRATEGIES FOR QUALITY IMPROVEMENT IN HIGHER EDUCATION

       Quality in systems improvement is an unending journey. Quality doesn’t come by a chance. It is a continuous process. It comes through strategies of better human resources development. It comes when everyone works in a right way. To maintain quality in higher education three factors are equally important. These are

1. Infrastructure

2. Instructional facilities

3. Human resources

Required facilities regarding them are following

4.1. INFRASTRUCTURE

·        Adequate furniture

·        Well equipped science laboratory & computer lab

·        Outdoor & indoor games facilitates with physical education laboratory ,technology lab with instructional material &music room with musical instruments

·        Fully ventilated and lighted classrooms

·        Plantation and greenery inside & outside campus

·        Separate administration wing & teaching wing and separate department for each subject

·        Separate common room for boys and girls

·        Language lab & work experience lab with all equipments

·        Suitable transport for pupil and staff

·        Library full of reference books, textbooks, magazines, national& international journals periodicals, up-to-date researches  and reading room facility

·        Internet facility & art gallery to develop aesthetic sense among students

·        Proper notice board with revelant information

4.2. INSTRUCTIONAL   FACILITIES

v Fair admission policy

v Time to time revised and reformulated syllabus

v Use of educational technology by teacher

v Innovative teaching method’s application

v Syllabus based on practicability of daily life situation

v Flexibility in stream choice

v Regular workshops, conferences, seminars etc. on emerging problem

v Continuous process of evaluation system

v Co-curricular activities as a part of syllabus

v Celebration of important days, events, festivals etc.

4.3. HUMAN   RESOURCES

·        Well qualified ,dynamic, sincere teaching staff

·        Adequate number of teaching & non teaching members

·        Regular organization of conducting educational researches and application of its conducting educational researches and application of its findings.

·        Action researches for the betterment  of the institution

·        Workshops, seminars, debates, conferences, guest lectures etc.

·        project work for new discoveries and setup of new system

·        incentives for hardwork,sincerity,innovation,punctuality etc. for staff development

·        awareness program as aids, polio,blood donation etc. in the institution

·        time to time promotion of staff as per rule

·        pension facility for staff after retirement

·        sanction of leave for researches, higher education, for staff development

·        alumini association for the improvement in the system of institution

·        cooperation of local people for discipline and maintenance of the institution

·        abolition of commercialization in the institution

5. NAAC’S PERSPECTIVES FOR QUALITY ASSURANCE IN HIGHER   EDUCATION

             THE NATIONAL ASSESSMENT AND ACCREDITATION COUNCIL (NAAC) is an autonomous body established by the University Grants Commission (UGC) of India to assess and accredit institutions of higher education in the country. It is an outcome of the recommendations of the National Policy on Education (1986) that laid special emphasis on upholding the quality of higher education in India that aim to ensure satisfactory levels of quality in the functioning of higher education institutions. To address the issue of deterioration in quality, the National Policy on Education (1986) and the Plan of Action (POA-1992) that spelt out the strategic plans for the policies, advocated the establishment of an independent national accreditation body. The NAAC was established in 1994 with its headquarters at Bangalore.

5.1 GOVERNANCE

             The NAAC functions through its General Council (GC) and Executive Committee (EC) where educational administrators, policy makers and senior academicians from a cross section of the system of higher education are represented. The Chairperson of the EC is an eminent academician in the area of relevance to the NAAC. The Director of the NAAC is its academic and administrative head, and is the member-secretary of both the GC and EC. The NAAC also has many advisory and consultative committees to guide its practices, in addition to the statutory bodies that steer its policies. The NAAC has a core staff and consultants to support its activities. It also receives assistance from a large number of external resource persons from across the country that is not full time staff of the NAAC.

5.2   VISION

    To make quality the defining element of higher education in India through a combination of self and external quality evaluation, promotion and sustenance initiatives.

5.3   MISSION

·         To arrange for periodic assessment and accreditation of institutions of higher education or units thereof, or specific academic programmes or projects;

·         To stimulate the academic environment for 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 programmes, and

·         To collaborate with other stakeholders of higher education for quality evaluation, promotion and sustenance. 

5.4 VALUE FRAMEWORK

To promote the following core values among the higher education institutions of the country.

• Contributing to National Development
• Fostering Global Competencies among Students
• Inculcating a Value System in Students
• Promoting the Use of Technology
• Quest for Excellence 

5.5 THE METHODOLOGY

For the assessment of a unit that is eligible to be assessed, the NAAC follows a three stage process 

1. The preparation and submission of a self-study report by the unit of assessment.

2. The on-site visit of the peer team for validation of the self-study report and for recommending the Assessment outcome to the NAAC.

3. Grading, certification and accreditation based on the evaluation report by the peer team.The final decision by the Executive Committee of the NAAC.

     5.6 CRITERIA FOR ASSESSMENT

The NAAC has identified the following seven criteria to serve as the basis for its assessment procedures:

1. Curricular Aspects

2. Teaching-Learning and Evaluation

3. Research, Consultancy and Extension

4. Infrastructure and Learning Resources

5. Student Support and Progression

6. Organization and Management Healthy

7. Practices

Different criteria have been allotted differential weight ages. The weight ages given below are used for calculating the institutional score. The self-study report is expected to highlight the functioning of the institution with reference to these criteria

6 QUALITY PROMOTION AND SUSTENANCE ACTIVITIES

            Quality assurance is a continuous process, the NAAC takes up many post accreditation activities to facilitate quality promotion and sustenance among all institutions of higher education, in general, and

Among the accredited institutions, in particular. Seminars and workshops on quality enhancement are being supported by the NAAC. To ensure that quality assurance becomes an integral part of the functioning of the institutions, the NAAC promotes the establishment of Internal Quality Assurance Cells (IQAC) in accredited institutions.

6.1 INTERNAL QUALITY ASSURANCE CELL (IQAC)

             The IQAC is expected to become a part of an institution's system and work towards realizing the goals of quality enhancement and sustenance. The prime task of the IQAC is to develop a system for conscious, consistent and catalytic improvement in the performance of institutions. It has to be a facilitative and participative voluntary part of the institution. To help institutions establish the IQACs, guidelines have been developed by the NAAC. The IQAC is expected to make a significant and meaningful contribution in the reaccreditation of institutions.

7. RE-ACCREDITATION

             The methodology for re-accreditation has been finalized incorporating post-accreditation reviews, feedback from the accredited institutions and the outcome of national consultations. Accordingly, the next two years will be the period of institutional preparations and implementation of re-assessment, for higher education institutions that volunteer for re-accreditation. The institutions that record their intent to volunteer for reaccreditation and begin institutional preparations will continue to use the outcome of the first accreditation

Till the end of the two-year institutional preparation period or till the re-accreditation outcome is declared.

7.1 THE METHODOLOGY FOR RE-ACCREDITATION

a) Process of assessment: The process of fe-assessment and accreditation will be a combination of self-assessment that results in a report to be submitted by the institution, and peer validation of the report. Through Information and Communication Technology (lCT) enabled data management, a part of the quantitative data to be submitted to NAAC will be in the electronic format.

b) Minimum institutional requirements: The establishment of the IQACs and the use of ICT for data management, with institutional websites will be the minimum institutional requirements for reaccreditation.

c) Re-accreditation framework: The existing seven criteria will be followed for reaccreditation with revision and re-organization in key aspects. The framework for re- accreditation will be built on five cores

Values of institutional functioning to which every higher education institution should be committed. They are:

1. Relating to National Development

2. Fostering Global Competencies among

3. Students Inculcating the Value System

4. Promoting the use of Technology

5. Quest for Excellence

The specific focus of the framework will be the impact of first accreditation in three major areas namely quality sustenance efforts of the institution, quality enhancement activities and action taken on the first assessment report.

d) Outcome: The current nine-point scale will be followed.

e) Period of re-accreditation: The validity period of the re-accredited status will be for seven years from the date of approval of the status by the Executive Committee. There accredited institution has to record its intent for the next accreditation by the end of the fifth year and initiate institutional preparations during the sixth year; reports should be submitted to the NAAC by the end of the sixth year and the NAAC will conduct the assessment and declare the accreditation outcome before the end of the- seventh year. Institutions that do not follow these deadlines will lose the accreditation status.

f) The fee structure and other financial implications for re-accreditation will be the same as that being followed for first-time assessment and accreditation.

7.2 APPEALS MECHANISM

     NAAC has also prescribed appeals mechanism after due consideration by the Academic Advisory Committee. An aggrieved institution can make a written representation to the Director, NAAC with payment of non-refundable fee of Rs. 20,000/- within one month from the date of notification of grade by the NAAC. The five-member committee constituted for the purpose will consider the appeal.

7.3 PROVISION FOR GRADE IMPROVEMENT

Institutions that would like to make an improvement in the institutional grade may volunteer for reassessment after completing at least one year of accredited status.

8. STUDENT PARTICIPATION IN QUALITY ENHANCEMENT

             Students are the prime stakeholders in any system of higher education. Pedagogy, research and support systems are learner centered and learner building for the benefit of other stakeholders. Quality is the end product of responsiveness to their educational and professional needs and also to the need of personal development which has been the primary concerns the traditional systems of education in the country. These needs aren’t definable by a monolithic legislative body, be it the academic council, or such other arrangements with its impersonal codes and procedures.

          Student aspirations and goals change in a fast changing world. That system in higher education, which is ready to honor them and shape its curricular and administrative performance, accordingly, is alone relevant. It can make student stakeholders partners in planning and governance rather than as a docile recipients of that which is imposed on them without sensitivity to their changing needs and aspirations.

           The NAAC has emphasized the importance of making institutional assessment of quality depend substantially on student interests forming an essential part of the assessment the criteria of assessment for curricular planning and development insist on providing adequate course options, strategies for meeting different needs of mixed ability groups and on student feedback, student progression and the support systems which enable it. Student participation is engaged in all internal arrangements for quality assurance including IQAC.

       A large number of institutions in this country have their own success stories to share concerning student participation in Quality assurance. Some have actively involved them in academic planning through representation of academic decision-making bodies. Others have made them effective partners with the institution in extension work; most personality development programs are student planned, funded and monitored. A few have involved them in the highest administrative bodies. While these are sporadic and need closer structuring and coordination, newer initiatives are necessary to make student active partners in responsible functional roles so that they can set their agenda within the policy of governance of this institution.

9. FUTURE OF ACCREDITATION SYSTEM FOR EDUCATION SECTOR

        The primary purpose of the accreditation system for the education sector is to provide assurance to the beneficiaries about the quality of education. There are continuous improvements to the definition of quality of education. What constitutes a high quality education is a matter not left to be defined by the educationists alone but also various other stake holders of the society.

          There is other secondary purpose to the accreditation system. These include the relative ranking of accredited institutions facilitating recognition of the accredited institutions by employers and immigration authorities; attracting better students & facilities, increasing the capacity to obtain projects &financial supports and so on. The need for accreditation systems assumes a high priority in the context of the proposed large scale expansion of the accreditation sector, including the possibility of entry of foreign institutions and programmers in India. However the nature of the criteria and process associated with different categories of institutions and programmers will not be same. The programmes offered through the distance mode offer very special challenges accreditation.

Criteria: The accreditation system for higher education sector in India is relatively new. Essentially there are two programmes. The national board of accreditation (NBA) meant for specific disciples of programs in Engineering/Technology/Management etc.coming under AICTE. And the accreditation by NAAC (National assessment &accreditation council) which covers all types of higher education institutions. There are some overlaps between the two. There is a high degree of national consensus that the exciting type of accreditation are not able to cope with the present and the growing demand

10. CONCLUSION

            We discussed about the role of NAAC in promoting quality assurance in higher education. Higher education is at the cross roads. At one end there is high demand for access to higher education, and at the other the quality is questioned. In order to survive in the competitive world of globalization, all higher education institutions should pay special attention to quality in higher education. NAAC has taken a number of steps to promote the quality of Indian higher education. This also intends to prepare better trained individuals on quality in higher education. Quality assurance is not the destination, but a journey to continuously improve and exhibit excellence.

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