Role of Assessment, Accreditation and Quality Standards in Higher Education
The International Context
Assessment plays a vital role in any institution’s educational framework. It is a multi-faceted way to measure quality of education across many factors. These factors include course quality, program quality, student performance and teacher performance. All of these factors are interdependent and are impacted by the institutions financial limitations, administration and region/locality. Routine assessments through assessment programs is essential in improving the education standards of the institution, thereby ensuring that institutional as well as individual goals can be attained by both teachers and students. For instance, the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AACU), founded in 1915, is a national association that aims to improve the educational standards of the member colleges and universities through periodic assessment. It is a multi-state collaboration “to make liberal education and inclusive excellence the foundation for institutional purpose and educational practice in higher education.”
AACU’s success can be attributed to their structured assessment programs. VALUE (Valid Assessment of Learning in Undergraduate Education) works on 16 rubrics which assesses universities and makes recommendations for improvements based on the outlined rubrics. The rubrics assess factors like Inquiry and analysis, critical thinking, creative thinking, integrative learning and ethical reasoning. This ensures that the university improves in a holistic manner and does not fixate on just one factor of improvement.
In the context of India, The University Grants Commission Act (1956) only universities that are ‘established or incorporated by or under a central act, or a state act’ that is ‘deemed to be a university’, can grant degrees, and therefore, receive accreditation. Not meeting these criteria results in the university not being recognised by the UGC, and makes it impossible for it to receive any of the benefits that come with accreditation. Therefore, it is mandatory for institutions to be recognised by the central or the state government in order for them to be valid.
National Assessment and Accreditation Council
For general colleges and universities, NAAC is the go to for accreditation. The National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC), which was established in 1994, is an independent body for accreditation and assessment established by the University Grants Commission (UGC). It is an autonomous body, and came as one of the recommendations of the National Policy on Education of 1986. The NAAC’s assessment plans include a mixture of self-evaluation as well as external-evaluation. They aim to hold such assessments periodically for Universities and Colleges, and analyse them both quantitatively and qualitatively. This is done through their 11 parameters of evaluation and assessment. NAAC has also influenced policymaking for education by providing possible frameworks of assessment to the government at the State level and Central level. Currently, the NAAC is also working with international bodies like the International Network for Quality Assurance Agencies in Higher Education (INQAAHE) to improve their assessment and accreditation plans.
The grading system of the NAAC is simple, and follows a Cumulative Grade Point Average system. It carries out the assessment and scores the universities on the aforementioned 11 parameters. The overall score under every criteria is calculated and a CGPA score is provided to the university. Any score below 1.50 is deemed unsatisfactory, which results in the University in question not getting the NAAC accreditation. The performance of the institute is also given a rating of ‘very good’, ‘good’, ‘satisfactory’, or ‘unsatisfactory’. The assessment takes place in ‘cycles’ of 5-year periods. The first cycle, when the University applies for the accreditation is termed ‘Cycle 1’, and the subsequent cycles that happen over the 5 years are incremental. If the university in question does not receive the accreditation, it can re-apply for accreditation after at least 1 year, but not after 3 years from the previous application. The total number of NAAC accreditations are mentioned in the table below.
There are quite a number of benefits to getting an accreditation from the NAAC. For instance, universities and colleges who have received the NAAC accreditation increase their likelihood of foreign student applications, since the NAAC accreditation registry will only show the names of universities that are certified. The likelihood of exchange programs also increases for this very reason. Companies are also more likely to approach universities that have the NAAC accreditation, which improves career opportunities for the students. Also, when applying for postgraduate education in other universities or outside of India, it is very likely that the accreditation of the college will be one of the criteria for selection, since accreditation is a certification of quality. Accreditation also helps a university or college to get the autonomous status. Another important benefit of getting the NAAC certification is that it promotes inter-institutional interaction. For students pursuing research, it is especially important for the college or university to have the accreditation as it gives them opportunities for tie-ups with other universities.
The NAAC is also working in association with the Council for Higher Accreditation (CHEA), which is a US based organisation of universities and smaller accreditation agencies. CHEA is recognised and reputed around the world and aims to ensure quality in education standards in the international context. Working with CHEA, NAAC has agreed to share its own assessment and accreditation system in order to better the accreditation system of the world. This will be done through regular conferences held by CHEA.
NAAC accreditation is mandatory for all institutes of higher education, however reports have shown that there are quite a number of universities who have not applied or received the accreditation. These universities are found specifically in small towns, and are not eligible for UGC grants. Often times, these universities do not have a formal assessment system, and do not come under the purview of the NAAC. Because of this, the quality of education, the fee structure, student and teacher performance and the role of the administration remains indecisive. The enforcement of the NAAC and UGC guidelines are problematic, since a sizeable amount of colleges are unrecognised. A survey showed that the total number of colleges in India far surpasses the number of reported colleges, which is a problematic situation for India, given that a large chunk of the population is the youth.
National Board of Accreditation
The other body of Accreditation in India is the National Board of Accreditation (NBA). It was formed in 1994 by the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), which is a statutory body. The NBA accredits only technical programmes which include engineering and management. It has come up with an extremely successful 3-step assessment program in order to ensure quality of education standards. The NBA accredits programmes rather than universities, which makes it a focused review of the individual programmes in any university. A program that has been accredited by the NBA is of a very high value, and is acknowledged everywhere in the world. This is also because the NBA itself is a permanent member of the Washington Accord, which is an international agreement applicable to all signatories of the accord. This gives the NBA-accredited university programs an added advantage in terms of getting international students as well as providing opportunities for native students to study abroad. Employment of students getting a degree in an NBA-certified course is also much higher. The Washington Accord, however, only accredits undergraduate programmes. The NBA, on the other hand, accredits postgraduate programs as well.
Accreditation by the NBA comes with a list of benefits, including financial aid and employment opportunities. The quality standards set by the NBA for individual courses, in some ways, makes it more efficient than the NAAC. Given that it is much harder to assess individual programmes in colleges and universities, it is also more fruitful to do so since it individually refines and hones the courses to meet the standard. However, considering the large number of universities and colleges in India, this may not be the most practical approach. Since 2016, the AICTE has also made it mandatory for colleges and universities to get their programmes accredited, and only these universities could increase the number of seats or start new courses.
The current scenario
Currently, there are a few issues plaguing higher education in India. A report submitted by the standing committee of HRD ministry looked at case studies and reports from various universities and colleges in India. The problems listed were rampant in Hyderabad, Chandigarh, Patiala, Thiruvananthapuram, Udaipur, Chennai, Visakhapatnam, Bhopal and Indore. There were a shortage of resources in these areas, since enrolment in state universities is handled by the state board. The board has a shortage of grants when compared with the centre, since nearly 65% of the grants received by the University Grants Commission. The earmarking of funds has to be done more efficiently, so as to ensure that the state universities as well as universities recognised by the centre is proportionate.
Another glaring issue is the fact that most of these colleges do not have a concrete mechanism for ensuring accountability and assessing the quality of performance for teachers. This puts the higher education in India at a disadvantage, since most international universities are required to have a periodic assessment of individual performance of the professors. A lack of such a system can lead to a low quality standard of the courses. A student-feedback based performance assessment must be installed, along with assessment carried out by the administration of the college/university.
The committee also makes a suggestion to include reputed industry associations, media houses and credit rating agencies in order to improve the quality of rating. This will also promote healthy competition amongst the colleges and universities, which will in turn serve to improve them as a whole. An association like the AACU of America is quite necessary in order to achieve this goal. The NAAC can also use CHEA’s organisational structure as a reference in order to achieve this.
Another important issue that needs consideration is the sharp rise in the student enrolment
for technical education in India. Enrolment rates in engineering colleges is at an all time high, and is increasing as the years go by. This can be attributed to the rapid industrialisation and expansion of markets in India. The NBA must ensure that the enrolment criteria is also assessed and refined periodically. Enrolment criteria differs for central and state universities. This factor must also be considered in the process of assessing the enrolment criteria, since state universities usually have a completely different structure and framework.
Lastly, studies have shown that India lacks an assessment platform for R&D activities. Students carrying out research in various disciplines are not assessed efficiently, and the universities themselves set the criteria of assessment. This must be mitigated in order to ensure a standard of quality in academia.
Written by: Akanksh Sharma, TEGS
