BUSINESS EDUCATION & ACCREDITATION ♦ Volume 5 ♦ Number 2 ♦ 2013 107 ACCREDITATION IN INDIA: PATH OF ACHIEVING EDUCATIONAL EXCELLENCE Vinita Sinha, Symbiosis Center for Management & Human Resource Development K. S. Subramanian, Symbiosis Center for Management & Human Resource Development ABSTRACT This article identifies the noteworthy role played by various statutory bodies constituted and expanded by the Indian Government for the purpose of quality assurance and attainment of sustainable excellence in the Indian higher education system. Accreditation has now become vital for all universities in India except those created through an act of Parliament. Without accreditation, these institutions have no legal entity to call themselves a University and award ‘Degrees’ which are not treated as valid for academic/employment purposes. Since quality assurance is an evolving issue the emphasis is deliberately given to excellence and quality as the distinct constituents of higher education in India. This is done through a combination of self and external quality evaluations, endorsements and sustenance initiatives. This paper also highlights existing key issues of the accreditation process and vital points that need to be incorporated to generate insights about the future of accreditation. JEL: I2, I23 KEYWORDS: Accreditation, Educational, Excellence, India, Path INTRODUCTION n understanding how the higher education system is regulated it is essential to realize the difference between “accreditation” and “recognition” in India. Until recent years, being “recognized” was the only mode of validating postsecondary institutions. The process involved evaluation of the institution in question by the recognizing agency in order to establish whether it meets the standards and norms put forth by the agency. Unlike the usual accreditation process which involves periodic review by the accreditation agency to ascertain if an institution is meeting its objectives and established standards, whereas “recognition” is a one-time process. Higher education accreditation is a type of quality assurance process under which services and operations of post-secondary educational institutions or programs are evaluated by an external body to determine if applicable standards are met. If standards are met, accredited status is granted by the agency”. (Wikipedia) Accreditation is broadly used for understanding the “Quality Status” of an institution. In the context of Higher Education, the accreditation status indicates that the particular Higher Educational Institutions (HEI) – a College, a University, or any other recognized Unit therein, meets the standards of quality as set by the Accreditation Agency, in terms of its performance, related to the educational processes and outcomes, covering the curriculum, teaching-learning, evaluation, faculty, research, infrastructure, learning resources, organization, governance, financial well being and student services (NAAC). Basically accreditation is the process by which a (non-)governmental or private body evaluates the quality of a higher education institution as a whole or of a specific educational programme in order to formally recognize it as having met certain predetermined minimal criteria or standards. The result of this process is usually the awarding of a status (a yes/no decision), of recognition, and sometimes of a license to operate within a time-limited validity. (Vlãsceanu, et al., 2007, p. 25) Accreditation is important because: 1. the institution knows its strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities through an informed review process, 2. the identification of internal areas of planning and resource I
V. Sinha & K. S. Subramanian | BEA Vol. 5 ♦ No. 2 ♦ 2013 108 allocation collegiality on the campus, 3. funding agencies look for objective data for performance funding, 4. The institution initiates innovative and modern methods of pedagogy. 5. A new sense of direction and identity for the institution, 6. provides society with reliable information on the quality education offered. 7. Provides employers reliable information on the quality of education offered to the prospective recruits and 8. Intra and inter-institutional interactions. (Source: NAAC) This article is a deliberate attempt to understand and analyze the current accreditation process and its significance in making Indian higher education system a world class higher education system. To attain this objective the present research first reviews the findings of recent studies on the issue under the. Then the paper highlights the key trends of accreditation and its evolution in higher education in India by the various statutory bodies to explore the prospects of bringing excellence in Indian education system under the section of. Finally, the article generates noteworthy insights under the section titled the future of accreditation process in India. The paper closes with some concluding comments. LITERATURE REVIEW The Indian education system has its roots in the system inherited from the British at independence in 1947 (Patil, 2007). The Indian higher education system is one of the largest of its kind in the world. In spite of several built‐in quality controls, such as the University Grants Commission’s guidelines and the affiliating functions of the university, deterioration in the quality of higher education was a serious concern for all stakeholders (Pillai & Srinivas, 2006). In 1994 India established the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) to ensure and enhance the quality of Indian higher education and to play an international role as a quality assurance agency. The NAAC has made its assessment and accreditation process acceptable to the institutions and academia through an intensive awareness campaign and academic interactions involving various universities, colleges, state higher education councils and other academic forums. However, it is equally important to obtain continuous feedback from the beneficiaries in the field to determine the effectiveness and enhance the efficiency of the organization. This study shows that 18 years of its existence the NAAC has earned substantial goodwill and appreciation from the academic community. Simultaneously, it also suggests a need for incessant effort on the part of the NAAC to strengthen and fine‐tune its processes and procedures. As increasing numbers of young Indians are striving for a better life, in these challenging times, a few questions arise. Is the education system ready for this surge? Are they getting good quality education? Are there young qualified teachers, libraries, equipment and facilities? Of the many Institute rankings conducted in the country every year, parameters stressed are infrastructure-physical, knowledge centers, teaching aids; education process, faculty, research, consultancy, publications and Management Development Programmes (MDPs); academic programmes–admission, curriculum, delivery systems; social responsibility; placement and industry interface. Most institutes have good physical and academic infrastructure but have problems in other areas. Moreover, the quality of an institution is not based on the infrastructure quality alone, but on many other equally important factors. The worst area of performance among the majority of B-schools has been the poor faculty and lack of research orientation (Sinha, 2007). The objective of the accreditation process is to develop a quality conscious system of technical education where excellence, relevance to market needs and participation by all stake holders are ensured. The process focuses on building a professional education system as vendors of human resources that will match the national goals of growth by competence, contributions to economy through competitiveness and compatibility to societal development. It intends to ensure a teaching-learning environment as per accepted good practices and institutions which has the essential and desirable features of quality professional education. For institutions, it signifies their strengths, weaknesses and opportunities for future growth, for the industry and infrastructure providers, it signifies, identification of quality of institutional capabilities. (Sahay &Thakur, 2007).
BUSINESS EDUCATION & ACCREDITATION ♦ Volume 5 ♦ Number 2 ♦ 2013 109 Accreditation principles are based on best practices in business education. These principles promote excellence in business education through a benchmarking process, which is helpful in determining why the institution is, or is not, achieving its mission and broad-based goals, and in interpreting the results of the outcomes assessment process. Within the value chain, for each of the activities, institutions must achieve and demonstrate an acceptable level of performance consistent with their mission while satisfying defined standards. Just as managers face rising expectations for their performance and the performance of their organizations, programs in management education also should anticipate rising expectations, even within a given mission. No fixed curriculum, specific set of faculty credentials, single type of faculty performance, or approach to instruction will suffice over time. The processes used to strengthen curricula, develop faculty, improve instruction, and enhance intellectual activity determine the direction and rate of improvement. Thus, these processes become important along with the necessary review of inputs and assessment of outcomes. (Sahay & Thakur, 2007) A recent Indian study (Dey, 2011) thoroughly evaluates the significance of accreditation in the Indian education system. The study reviews the outcome of accreditation exercises undertaken by agencies like NAAC and NBA. They find these exercises have significant impact on improving the quality of higher education. The strengths and shortcomings of the institutions are detected for initiating appropriate action. The stake
BUSINESS EDUCATION & ACCREDITATION ♦ Volume 5 ♦ Number 2 ♦ 2013 107 ACCREDITATION IN INDIA: PATH OF ACHIEVING EDUCATIONAL EXCELLENCE Vinita Sinha, Symbiosis Center for Management & Human Resource Development K. S. Subramanian, Symbiosis Center for Management & Human Resource Development ABSTRACT This article identifies the noteworthy role played by various statutory bodies constituted and expanded by the Indian Government for the purpose of quality assurance and attainment of sustainable excellence in the Indian higher education system. Accreditation has now become vital for all universities in India except those created through an act of Parliament. Without accreditation, these institutions have no legal entity to call themselves a University and award ‘Degrees’ which are not treated as valid for academic/employment purposes. Since quality assurance is an evolving issue the emphasis is deliberately given to excellence and quality as the distinct constituents of higher education in India. This is done through a combination of self and external quality evaluations, endorsements and sustenance initiatives. This paper also highlights existing key issues of the accreditation process and vital points that need to be incorporated to generate insights about the future of accreditation. JEL: I2, I23 KEYWORDS: Accreditation, Educational, Excellence, India, Path INTRODUCTION n understanding how the higher education system is regulated it is essential to realize the difference between “accreditation” and “recognition” in India. Until recent years, being “recognized” was the only mode of validating postsecondary institutions. The process involved evaluation of the institution in question by the recognizing agency in order to establish whether it meets the standards and norms put forth by the agency. Unlike the usual accreditation process which involves periodic review by the accreditation agency to ascertain if an institution is meeting its objectives and established standards, whereas “recognition” is a one-time process. Higher education accreditation is a type of quality assurance process under which services and operations of post-secondary educational institutions or programs are evaluated by an external body to determine if applicable standards are met. If standards are met, accredited status is granted by the agency”. (Wikipedia) Accreditation is broadly used for understanding the “Quality Status” of an institution. In the context of Higher Education, the accreditation status indicates that the particular Higher Educational Institutions (HEI) – a College, a University, or any other recognized Unit therein, meets the standards of quality as set by the Accreditation Agency, in terms of its performance, related to the educational processes and outcomes, covering the curriculum, teaching-learning, evaluation, faculty, research, infrastructure, learning resources, organization, governance, financial well being and student services (NAAC). Basically accreditation is the process by which a (non-)governmental or private body evaluates the quality of a higher education institution as a whole or of a specific educational programme in order to formally recognize it as having met certain predetermined minimal criteria or standards. The result of this process is usually the awarding of a status (a yes/no decision), of recognition, and sometimes of a license to operate within a time-limited validity. (Vlãsceanu, et al., 2007, p. 25) Accreditation is important because: 1. the institution knows its strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities through an informed review process, 2. the identification of internal areas of planning and resource I
V. Sinha & K. S. Subramanian | BEA Vol. 5 ♦ No. 2 ♦ 2013 108 allocation collegiality on the campus, 3. funding agencies look for objective data for performance funding, 4. The institution initiates innovative and modern methods of pedagogy. 5. A new sense of direction and identity for the institution, 6. provides society with reliable information on the quality education offered. 7. Provides employers reliable information on the quality of education offered to the prospective recruits and 8. Intra and inter-institutional interactions. (Source: NAAC) This article is a deliberate attempt to understand and analyze the current accreditation process and its significance in making Indian higher education system a world class higher education system. To attain this objective the present research first reviews the findings of recent studies on the issue under the. Then the paper highlights the key trends of accreditation and its evolution in higher education in India by the various statutory bodies to explore the prospects of bringing excellence in Indian education system under the section of. Finally, the article generates noteworthy insights under the section titled the future of accreditation process in India. The paper closes with some concluding comments. LITERATURE REVIEW The Indian education system has its roots in the system inherited from the British at independence in 1947 (Patil, 2007). The Indian higher education system is one of the largest of its kind in the world. In spite of several built‐in quality controls, such as the University Grants Commission’s guidelines and the affiliating functions of the university, deterioration in the quality of higher education was a serious concern for all stakeholders (Pillai & Srinivas, 2006). In 1994 India established the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) to ensure and enhance the quality of Indian higher education and to play an international role as a quality assurance agency. The NAAC has made its assessment and accreditation process acceptable to the institutions and academia through an intensive awareness campaign and academic interactions involving various universities, colleges, state higher education councils and other academic forums. However, it is equally important to obtain continuous feedback from the beneficiaries in the field to determine the effectiveness and enhance the efficiency of the organization. This study shows that 18 years of its existence the NAAC has earned substantial goodwill and appreciation from the academic community. Simultaneously, it also suggests a need for incessant effort on the part of the NAAC to strengthen and fine‐tune its processes and procedures. As increasing numbers of young Indians are striving for a better life, in these challenging times, a few questions arise. Is the education system ready for this surge? Are they getting good quality education? Are there young qualified teachers, libraries, equipment and facilities? Of the many Institute rankings conducted in the country every year, parameters stressed are infrastructure-physical, knowledge centers, teaching aids; education process, faculty, research, consultancy, publications and Management Development Programmes (MDPs); academic programmes–admission, curriculum, delivery systems; social responsibility; placement and industry interface. Most institutes have good physical and academic infrastructure but have problems in other areas. Moreover, the quality of an institution is not based on the infrastructure quality alone, but on many other equally important factors. The worst area of performance among the majority of B-schools has been the poor faculty and lack of research orientation (Sinha, 2007). The objective of the accreditation process is to develop a quality conscious system of technical education where excellence, relevance to market needs and participation by all stake holders are ensured. The process focuses on building a professional education system as vendors of human resources that will match the national goals of growth by competence, contributions to economy through competitiveness and compatibility to societal development. It intends to ensure a teaching-learning environment as per accepted good practices and institutions which has the essential and desirable features of quality professional education. For institutions, it signifies their strengths, weaknesses and opportunities for future growth, for the industry and infrastructure providers, it signifies, identification of quality of institutional capabilities. (Sahay &Thakur, 2007).
BUSINESS EDUCATION & ACCREDITATION ♦ Volume 5 ♦ Number 2 ♦ 2013 109 Accreditation principles are based on best practices in business education. These principles promote excellence in business education through a benchmarking process, which is helpful in determining why the institution is, or is not, achieving its mission and broad-based goals, and in interpreting the results of the outcomes assessment process. Within the value chain, for each of the activities, institutions must achieve and demonstrate an acceptable level of performance consistent with their mission while satisfying defined standards. Just as managers face rising expectations for their performance and the performance of their organizations, programs in management education also should anticipate rising expectations, even within a given mission. No fixed curriculum, specific set of faculty credentials, single type of faculty performance, or approach to instruction will suffice over time. The processes used to strengthen curricula, develop faculty, improve instruction, and enhance intellectual activity determine the direction and rate of improvement. Thus, these processes become important along with the necessary review of inputs and assessment of outcomes. (Sahay & Thakur, 2007) A recent Indian study (Dey, 2011) thoroughly evaluates the significance of accreditation in the Indian education system. The study reviews the outcome of accreditation exercises undertaken by agencies like NAAC and NBA. They find these exercises have significant impact on improving the quality of higher education. The strengths and shortcomings of the institutions are detected for initiating appropriate action. The stake
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