New Delhi:The government on Saturday said that the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) will be roped in for speedy assessment and accreditation of higher educational institutes along with official agencies such as National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) and National Board of Accreditation (NBA).
While the NAAC and the NBA will be expanded, the premier IITs and IIMs could also join hands and form an accreditation agency to expedite the process, said human resource development minister Prakash Javadekar.
At present, only 15 per cent of the higher educational institutes in the country are accredited. “We have asked IITs and IIMs to come together and create an agency which we can be used to expedite the process of accreditation,” the minister said.
He said accreditation from now onwards will be based on “learning outcome” and quality of education should be the key parameter for determining the standard of an institute.
The minister’s comments came against the backdrop of the University Grants Commission (UGC) clearing a proposal to allow more accreditation agencies to come into the sphere of accreditation to enhance the existing capacity.
The minister said 80 per cent of the weightage for accreditation would be given on learning outcome and peer reviews, while the physical verification of the campus and infrastructure could be done through the use of satellites.
“An institute which maintains quality will only survive and those who fail to do so will be out of business,” he said. The minister also said that the government would be rolling out a scheme where students can engage themselves in the literacy mission and provide education to people who are illiterates.
Illiteracy should be eliminated in four-five years. He rued the fact that even after 70 years of Independence, the country is still talking about basic literacy.
