City govt science college only one in state to get NAAC A+ grade

The Government Science College in Bengaluru is the only college in the state that has received an A+ grade under a new grading system introduced by the National Accreditation and Assessment Council (NAAC) in July.

St Joseph's College in Kerala with a grade of A++ on the other hand, was the only institution to get the highest grade from the 332 which were part of the first batch to be graded under this new system.

The Government Science College received a cumulative grade point average (CGPA) score of 3.54 in its third cycle of accreditation. St Joseph's College, on the other hand, got a CGPA score of 3.76 also in the third cycle.

J S Veena, principal, Government Science College, told DH: “It is a remarkable feat and one that speaks for the overall development of the college. We have already been recognised as a ‘centre for potential of excellence’ and now we aspire to get the tag of a centre for excellence.” Further, she said that the improvement was due to better results, placement and research. The college had received a CGPA score of  3.11 in the last cycle of accreditation.

In the earlier system, universities and colleges were judged based on a four-point grading system namely - A (very good), B (good), C (satisfactory) and D (unsatisfactory) grades.

This was based on their CGPA scores dependent on various parameters. For example, colleges with a CGPA score between 3.01 to 4 will get grade A and so on. 

In the new system, colleges will be graded based on a seven-point scale namely -  A++ (3.76 to 4.00 CGPA), A+ (3.51 - 3.75 CGPA), A (3.01 - 3.50), B++(2.76 - 3.00 CGPA), B+(2.51 - 2.75 CGPA), B (2.51 - 2.75 CGPA), C(1.51 - 2.00 CGPA). Any institute getting a CGPA score equal to or below 1.50 will be marked as ‘not accredited’. The new system will also not include any descriptors.

D P Singh, director, NAAC, however, said that institutions such as Jawaharlal Nehru University with a CGPA score of 3.91 and other similar institutions like Banaras Hindu University could not be clubbed with other institutions only based on an A grade alone. To further explain this, an institute with a CGPA score of 3.01 and another who might have got a score of 3.80 or 3.90 were put under the same grade A in the earlier system which did not seem fair, added Singh.

Further, he said that out of the 40,700 colleges and universities in the country, only 25,000 are eligible for accreditation. NAAC has some minimum requirements for accreditation. Of this, he explained around 10,000 institutions are under the All India Council for Technical Education and do not require to be accredited by the NAAC. “This leaves as many as 15,000 institutions to be accredited,” Singh added, while expressing hope that most of these would be accredited soon.