Prof Sham Lal Gupta
All over the country institutions of higher learning including Universities/Colleges and Stand Alone Institutions are struggling to obtain high ranks/CGPA and praise worthy grades in the process of NAAC Assessment and Accreditation. It has been observed that the Government institutions are reluctant in volunteering for Assessment and Accreditation and the authorities have made it mandatory for them to undergo this process. It is pertinent to mention here that this exercise should have been voluntary rather than imposed by the authorities. NAAC Bangalore initially started this exercise in 1994 and appealed to all the Colleges/Universities and Stand Alone Institutions to volunteer themselves so that the NAAC could facilitate this process by providing all kind of support system to them. The ultimate goal of NAAC is to initiate various forward looking measures for the quality enhancement and improvement of the academic standards of these institutions. In fact, accreditation is a voluntary system of evaluation of higher education institutions and programmes. It is based on self-evaluation and per-assessment for improvement of academic quality and public accountability. The outcome of the process is useful to the students and parents in making a choice of the institutions and to the funding agencies and other bodies to make decisions on formulating policies. Now, the Assessment and Accreditation by NAAC is mandatory for all higher education institutions. It also provides for punitive measures if the higher education institutes fail to participate like with-holding grants and revocation of affiliation etc.
In this context a unique exercise was initiated by the present Principal of Government Padma Shree Padma Sachdev P.G. College for Women, Gandhinagar in Jammu division (J&K).
The concerned college has already started the assessment and accreditation process for its 3rd cycle and the NAAC Peer team is likely to visit probably in the month of December 2023. The pro-active Principal initiated a first time-exercise of Pre-NAAC (Mock) visit by constituting a committee of three members having a rich experience in different capacities. The team consisted of my-self, Dr. Zahoor Ahmed Chat who is Former Director Colleges, Higher Education Department and Dr. Kiran Bakshi (Former College Principal). The first two members have acted as NAAC Assessors and visited many Colleges in whole of the country and the third member has worked as the Principal of some of the prominent Colleges of the Jammu division.
This Mock pre-NAAC visit was planned strictly as per the NAAC guidelines. A proper visit schedule was planned. The team evaluated the institution based on all the parameters of the NAAC which include, seven criteria including curricular planning and implementation, teaching-learning and evaluation, research, innovations and extension, infrastructure and learning resources, student support and progression, governance, leadership and management and institutional values and best practices. The team also identified strengths, weaknesses, challenges and opportunities of the college and a detailed discussion was held with all the faculty members and the non-teaching staff. A sincere effort was made to highlight some of the issues which needed the attention of the Principal and her team consisting of both the teaching and non-teaching staff. The team also interacted with alumni of the college some of whom are holding prominent positions in different fields. The team also interacted with some of the parents of the students of the College. Students are the main stakeholders in this process and an effort was made to interact with them along with their Students Union who seemed to be actively involved in the process. At the end of the two days visit the team held a meeting with the IQAC of the college in the presence of the Principal. It is very important to place on record that the IQAC plays a very catalystic role in the assessment and evaluation process of the institution. A functional and pro-active IQAC is of paramount importance to help the institution in upgrading the academic standards and maintain the quality culture. At the end of the visit the Principal was apprised of a few suggestions and recommendations along with some corrective measures required for improvement in the process.
J&K UT is a unique hub of Higher Education System where majority of the Colleges and Universities are in the Government sector. Students show their first preference to seek admission in the Government Colleges and Universities due to comparatively better infrastructure and teaching- learning process of these institutions. There is mushrooming growth of Private Colleges and Universities in rest of the country but J&K is an exception where higher education by and large, is the responsibility of the Government. The unique practice initiated by the Govt. P.S.P.S P.G. College for Women, Gandhinagar need to be replicated by all other Colleges and the Universities if we want many more of these institutions to excel in the NIRF ranking. The Mock Pre-NAAC visits organised under the expert guidance of the experienced resource persons will definitely give opportunity to the institutions to know about their strengths, weaknesses, challenges and opportunities and before the actual NAAC Peer Team visits are planned, these institutions can take appropriate and corrective measures to build their confidence and face the NAAC Peer team convenietly. Some of the Universities in rest of the states have already introduce this practice of undergoing the Pre-NAAC Mock visits to their affiliated colleges which has helped them to obtain appreciable ranks with high CGPA. The affiliating Universities of J&K may plan such visits in all those colleges which are due for different cycles of Assessment and Accreditation. Similarly the Universities may also undergo such mock visits by inviting a few resource persons having experience of acting as Assessors in different capacities. There is a huge pool of such experts both in the Colleges as well as Universities who can be engaged in such Mock Pre-NAAC visits. At present the J&K UT has many University teachers, College Principals, Former vice-chancellors, Director Colleges who have rich experience of visiting different institutions of higher learning in connection with NAAC Assessment and Accreditation. All these experienced resource persons may be requested to offer their services for Pre-NAAC visit to the Colleges and Universities which are eligible for different cycles of Assessment and Accreditation. In J&K this practice will help these institutions to improve their ranking and our higher education system will emerge as an example for rest of the states and UTs of India.
It is very important to place on record that there is no dearth of funding to these institutions and sufficient funds are flowing to the institutions of higher learning in J&K UT. If we compare the infrastructure of the Government HEIs in the J&K UT it is better than what we find in the Government HEIs of other states. The computer labs, libraries, sports infrastructure both outdoor and indoor is adequately available in most of the colleges. Recently the J&K UT administrators sincerely started the recruitment process both for teaching and non-teaching vacancies and most of colleges have already been equipped with permanent Assistant Professors, Librarians, Physical education teachers and other non-teaching staff. Now apart from infrastructure the HEIs have sufficient manpower both in terms of teaching and non-teaching staff. The recently established colleges have also shifted to their own buildings and only a few colleges are working from make-shift arrangement. Now, many colleges and universities are due for different cycles of NAAC Assessment and Accreditation and if the unique practice of Pre-visits is replicated it can prove highly useful for the entire higher education system of J&K UT.
Mock exercise in the shape of Pre-NAAC visits will have the impact on the institutional ranking provided the proper ground work is done by the heads of the institutions, IQAC and others who are engaged in the process and the following measures are taken into account.
* Provided the institution is regularly working hard on all the 07 criteria seriously with a proper understanding of the criteria and regularly preparing and uploading AQARs for last 5 years after the previous NAAC visit.
* The eligible institutions applying for the 1st cycle of Assessment and Accreditation need to do the ground work by understanding the process and how SSR is prepared and uploaded. The institutions that have already undergone different cycles need to do handholding and guide the new institutions through workshops, seminars and invited talks.
* It is mandatory for all the institutions to maintain all the documents pertaining to all the 07 criteria and main achievements. IQACs of the HEIs have to play, a critical role in the documentation of all the records.
* This is pertinent to mention that the institutions desirous of undergoing the NAAC Assessment and Accreditation must invite resource persons from time to time including persons from universities, research centers, industry and other academia of the colleges as well who are the reservoirs of knowledge and those who can contribute in many ways for improving the quality of the institutions.
* The alumni of the HEIs have been found of immense significance and they have been playing immense role in the institutional development. Therefore, keeping in regular touch with the alumni can help the institution in many ways.
* The role of the Government in the academic and infrastructural growth of the HEIs in J&K UT is commendable as most of the colleges and good number of the universities are working in the Government sector. Therefore, all the HEIs are appealed to follow the Government rules and regulations and help updating about various forward looking and innovative healthy practices being followed by them to the Higher Education Department of J&K UT.
All the stakeholders play their respective roles in shaping an institution of higher learning. Therefore, students, alumni, Parents, Government, the university and the society as a whole must be involved in the process and every information must be shared with all these stakeholders.
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