March 31 deadline for colleges to start NAAC process | Mumbai news - Hindustan Times
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March 31 deadline for colleges to start NAAC process

ByNiraj Pandit
Feb 03, 2023 12:40 AM IST

Mumbai: The state higher education department has issued a circular that colleges without the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) rating should start the accreditation process by March 31 or face action

Mumbai: The state higher education department has issued a circular that colleges without the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) rating should start the accreditation process by March 31 or face action.

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Issued by the Directorate of Higher Education recently, this circular has instructed vice chancellors (VC) of all state universities to identify and send notice to colleges that have not got the NAAC rating. The NAAC is a national body for evaluating the quality of universities and colleges and is considered important to identify the quality of education, infrastructure, and other facilities provided by colleges.

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Around 60% degree-granting educational institutes in the state, registered with the University Grants Commission (UGC), have not acquired the rating given by the NAAC, raising questions over the academic quality of these unaided colleges.

Professor Shailendra Deolankar, director, directorate of higher education, said, “Despite repeated instructions by the UGC and state government, colleges have ignored getting NAAC rating. It is the right of the students to know the academic quality of a college. The government has taken the stand that colleges without NAAC deprive students of this right and hence, this evaluation is necessary.”

This circular was issued after Maharashtra Higher and Technical Education minister Chandrakant Patil’s announcement at a meeting of the joint body of VCs at Raj Bhavan on January 5 that colleges in the state, that have been in operation for more than five years, will be barred from admitting new students unless they begin the accreditation process.

Of the 3,346 such degree-granting colleges in the state, 1,986 colleges do not have the ‘NAAC’ rating. According to NAAC data 24 out of 28 government colleges in the state have got the NAAC rating and 1,098 of 1,177 aided colleges have completed the process to get the accreditation. However, only 238 of the 2,141 unaided colleges have completed their assessment while 1,903 colleges have not undertaken the NAAC assessment.

The NAAC accreditation is not mandatory; however, it is important as many government grants and benefits for the colleges are tied to it. University Act expert and statute committee member, professor RS Mali said, “The Maharashtra University Act, 2016 promotes an institution to go through accreditation process with different conditions like participation in senate elections etc. If the government wants to act against colleges, they must do so in accordance with the Act or amend the law.”

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