The National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) established in the year 1994 is now due for its Silver Jubilee Celebrations (1994-2019). In J&K, the process of quality assessment and accreditation was started in the year 2004 when some universities and colleges offered themselves for the said evaluation. Since its existence, the NAAC has evolved an enriched process of assessment and accreditation based on seven quality benchmarks. For the past 15 years, some Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) have offered themselves for First Cycle or Second Cycle of assessment and accreditation in the state. However, according to a survey, more than 60 per cent of colleges in J&K are yet to be accredited.
Initially, number of workshops and awareness programmes were organized. The first of the kind was held in September 2001 at SKICC, Srinagar. The faculty and the college administration exhibited enthusiasm as it was a new experience. However, with the passage of time there has been a lull as no such events could take place and the enthusiasm graph reflected a decline. We lagged behind and our HEIs could not keep pace with the changes brought about by the technological advancements. Perhaps we forget that in today’s digitized economy, even HEIs have to compete with each other. Naturally, this has put a huge challenge in front of us and as such with changing times we need to update our knowledge so as to ensure quality teaching- learning in HEIs. Hence, continuity, sustainability and keeping current with the latest changes in academics are a sine-que-non for institutional building. In this lackadaisical approach, both Affiliating Universities and Higher Education Department are equally responsible. In an effort to gain momentum in the process, the following observations are put forth for the consideration of all the stakeholders:
Since no external force can bring a change unless it comes from within and hence Heads of the HEIs must rejuvenate themselves for NAAC Assessment and Accreditation. They should not sleep for years as they are a part of a bigger system;
Internal Management Information System (MIS) in the colleges must be strengthened in order to document every academic activity carried on the campus. This would provide inputs while Writing and Preparing the Institutional Information for Quality Assessment (IIQA) Application and the Self Study Report (SSR);
In order to facilitate accreditation process, the services of Past Principals interested in may be utilized for performing as Assessment and Accreditation Consultants in different colleges;
Frequent sessions for faculty in the colleges must be organized in order to sensitize them with Revised Accreditation SSR Format in operation from July 2017 with emphasis on Digitized Framework. As the Revision of Accreditation Framework from Manual to Digital became inevitable in the light of latest technological innovations and developments happening in the field of higher education, it has become necessary to get familiar with the latest procedure, new methodology, new benchmarks, criteria, essential matrices, optional matrices and new format devised by the NAAC (a good blend of Qualitative and Quantitative Matrices);
To gain the benefits of synergy, the colleges must work in clusters in order to share experiences for mutual benefit to enrich the IIQA and the SSR;
To boost the enthusiasm of faculty, self-motivation is a pre-requisite. All the faculty members must be associated with the Process of the SSR Writing. It must not be selective but all inclusive after taking due care of contribution expected from every individual in the institution;
The SSR must be well-drafted, fine-tuned and chiseled. This must go through the process of Content-Editing as well as Language-Editing. This is because the SSR is a mirror that reflects the performance of an institution during a reference period;
Of course, there is a Provision for Appeal in the NAAC process. The institutions in the first instance must focus on assessment and accreditation of their institution. The higher performance would lead to the higher grade. The wisdom demands that the institutions must feel encouraged the moment these are accredited with whatsoever grade;
The Directorate of Higher Education has to play an added role in order to see that all the colleges in the state are accredited. The non-accreditation of a HEI is confronted with multiple disadvantages preferably with regard to financial support provided by agencies like UGC, RUSA, ICSSR and so on;
Initially, the institutions in a cluster must work in a collaborative manner. However, with the passage of time they perform in a competitive environment. Being students of Business Education, we have learnt about inter-firm comparison. Based on the same analogy, the HEIs can work on inter-unit comparison, of course with due regard to age, exposure and experience; and
Lastly, the Cluster University of Kashmir is now a reality. The NAAC may ponder over accrediting Cluster University as a Composed Unit besides accrediting its Five Colleges individually constituting the university. The structure of Cluster University is totally different from an Affiliating University or a Constituent University.
To conclude, the Directorate of Colleges may issue an advisory to all non-accredited colleges to initiate the process and prepare first draft of the SSR within a stipulated time-frame.
These writers are former Commerce Teachers
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