An autonomous government body will soon be in place to create a network of agencies to accredit colleges and universities across the country.
The University Grants Commission (UGC) recently approved the setting up of a National Accreditation Regulatory Authority (NARA) with powers to create these agencies in the form of non-profit organisations and monitor them.
“The UGC has approved the proposal. The national accreditation regulatory authority will soon be set up,” said higher education secretary Ashok Thakur on Monday.
A large number of universities and colleges are still unaccredited by a registered government agency, even though the Human Resource Development Ministry made accreditation mandatory for all the higher educational institutions last year.
A bill to set up NARA remained stuck in Parliament, so the HRD Ministry decided to implement its key provisions through an executive order. It has asked the UGC to frame regulations for this.
The setting up of an agency to create a network of organisations will speed up the accreditation process because India currently has only two organisations which can accredit colleges and universities, the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) and National Board of Accreditation (NBA).
“The NBA and NAAC will continue giving accreditation. But, we want more accreditation agencies,” Thakur said.
The Human Resource Development Ministry has also asked the states to come up with a proposal to set up accreditation agencies. “We are in touch with the states. Many of them are keen on setting up accreditation agencies,” Thakur said.
Accreditation is mandatory for all the higher education institutions to improve the quality of education, explained Thakur.
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