The National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) recently dismissed over 1233+ of the 5,364 assessors responsible for evaluating higher education institutions prior to the issuance of an NAAC grade.
The National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) has implemented substantial measures against its assessors who were implicated in a “bribery-for-ratings” case.
Key Developments
-The NAAC has dismissed 1,233 assessors from a total of 5,364 after receiving feedback and discrepancies from colleagues. Additionally, this is in addition to the nearly 800 assessors who were previously removed as a result of data errors and procedural breaches.
-New accreditation system with two frameworks is being introduced by NAAC.
-Institutions will be designated as accredited or non-accredited accordingly to their compliance with minimum standards across more than 50 parameters.
-Accredited institutions will be rated from Level 1 to 5 based on their performance and progress over the years, as determined by the Maturity-Based Graded Levels (MBGL).
-The Binary Accreditation framework is already prepared, and the MBGL framework is edging closer to completion, indicating that the new accreditation system is anticipated to be launched in the near future.
-Objectives: NAAC’s objective is to ensure that all colleges in India are accredited within the next five years and to improve the quality of higher education nationally.
Actions Taken Against Assessors: A CBI investigation into a bribery-for-ratings scandal involving seven NAAC officials and three office-bearers of the Koneru Lakshmaiah Education Foundation (KLEF) has resulted in the removal of assessors. As the interim vice-chancellor of Ramchandra Chandravansi University in Palamu, Jharkhand, and the chairperson of the seven-member NAAC peer committee, Samarendra Nath Saha was the primary culprit.
Present Condition
As of now, NAAC has 4,131 assessors, and an additional 100 are being recruited. The new accreditation system is anticipated to simplify and clarify the accreditation process, as institutions will be evaluated using transparent benchmarks and performance metrics.
