November 2013 - RS Publication

International Journal of Emerging Trends in Engineering and Development Available online on http://www.rspublication.com/ijeted/ijeted_index.htm

Issue 3, Vol.6 (November 2013) ISSN 2249-6149

Accreditation: A Tool for Quality Assurance in Higher Education Prof. M. Senthil Kumar1, Dr. P. Sivakumar2 Assistant Professor, Department of ECE, Ranganathan Engineering College, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India. 2 Chief Executive Officer, Ranganathan Educational Institutions, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India.

1

ABSTRACT – Accreditation is the process of evaluation of the standards in any educational establishment by an external independent body. Generally there are two types of accreditation: one is institutional level and another is program level. In India, as far as higher education is concerned, there are two types of agencies giving accreditation. The National Board of Accreditation (NBA) is giving accreditation only for technical programs (i.e., program level accreditation) and the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) is giving accreditation for the institutions offering both technical and non-technical programs (i.e., institutional level accreditation). In our country, NBA was giving accreditation status to the programs based on input (also called as I-O based accreditation). Recently NBA has, however, revised the criteria for accreditation of institutes to bring it at par with international parameters. Accreditation is now based on a 1000 point scale and is an outcome based accreditation system. Keywords: NBA, NAAC, WA, SA, DA.

I. INTRODUCTION Accreditation is a process in which certification of competency, authority, or credibility is presented. Organizations that issue credentials or certify third parties against official standards are themselves formally accredited by accreditation bodies, hence they are sometimes known as “accredited certification bodies”. The accreditation process ensures that their certification practices are acceptable, typically meaning that they are competent to test and certify third parties, behave ethically and employ suitable quality assurance. R S. Publication (rspublication.com), [email protected]

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Educational accreditation is a type of quality assurance process under which services and operations of 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. In most countries in the world, the function of educational accreditation is conducted by a government organization, such as a ministry of education. In the United States, however, a quality assurance process exists that is independent of government and performed by private non-profit organizations National Accreditation Regulatory Authority for Higher Educational Institutions (NARAHEI) Bill, 2010 has been introduced in Parliament of India to make it mandatory for every higher educational institution in the country (other than institutions engaged in agricultural education) to be accredited by an independent accreditation agency. II. NEED FOR ACCREDITATION Accreditation of educational institutions / programs is a global practice and its need has been felt by various developing and developed countries for one or more of the following purposes:

i. Funding decisions ii. State recognition of qualification / certification of professionals iii. Accountability of Institutions to stakeholders iv. Encouraging self improvement initiatives by Institutions v. Quality assurance of educational program. Accreditation may be summarized as a process, based on professional judgment, for evaluating whether or not an educational institution or program meets specified standards of educational quality. Its primary purpose is to assure prospective students and public that graduates of an institution, conducting various programs, have achieved a minimum level of competence in their chosen fields of study, thus serving as a form of consumer protection. In many countries, accreditation is the legal responsibility of ministry of education or other governmental agencies. R S. Publication (rspublication.com), [email protected]

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III. ACCREDITATION IN INDIA 3.1 What is NAAC? The National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) is an autonomous body established by the University Grants Commission (UGC) of India to assess and accredit institutions of higher education in the country. It is an outcome of the recommendations of the National Policy in Education (1986) which laid special emphasis on upholding the quality of higher education in India. To address the issues of quality, the National Policy on Education (1986) and the Plan of Action (POA-1992) advocated the establishment of an independent national accreditation body. Consequently, the NAAC was established in 1994 with its headquarters at Bangalore. At present in India, accreditation is voluntary for Higher Education Institutions. Out of 612 Universities in the country, only 172 of them have been accredited by the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC). Out of the Universities accredited, 67 have been placed in Grade A, 99 Universities in Grade B and only 6 in Grade C, based on scores awarded during the process of accreditation. 3.2 What is NBA? The National Board of Accreditation (NBA) was formed by All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) as an Autonomous body in the year 1994, under section 10(u) of the AICTE act 1987. The NBA conducts periodical evaluation of the technical programs of the institutions and on a periodical basis according to specified norms and standards as recommended by AICTE. Various diplomas, degrees and post graduate technical programs and institutes offering such program come under the purview of National Board of Accreditation (NBA). The NBA accreditation of technical institutions is a process of quality assurance. The NBA makes it sure that an institute providing technical education is giving its students the quality of education for that it makes commitment. The NBA accreditation makes the backbone of the technical institutes in India. The NBA recognition guarantees the minimum quality of education in technical institutions in the country. The National Board of Accreditation (NBA) has the goal to develop a Quality Conscious System of Technical Education which should

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be at par with the industrial demand. In 2010, the Government of India made the NBA as an independent body and separated from AICTE. IV. INTERNATIONAL ACCREDITATION 4.1 Washington Accord The Washington

Accord is

an

international

accreditation

agreement

for

professional engineering academic degrees, between the bodies responsible for accreditation in its signatory countries. The Washington Accord covers undergraduate engineering degrees under outcome-based education approach. Engineering technology and postgraduate programs are not covered by the accord, although some engineering technology programs are covered under the Sydney Accord and the Dublin Accord. Only qualifications awarded after the signatory country or region became part of the Washington Accord are recognized. The accord is

not

directly

responsible

for

the

licensing

or

registration

of

Professional

Engineers and Chartered Engineers, but it does cover the academic requirements that are part of the licensing processes in signatory countries. The Washington Accord, signed among six countries in 1989, is an International Agreement among bodies responsible for accrediting undergraduate engineering degree programs. It recognizes the substantial equivalency of programs accredited by those bodies and recommends that graduates of programs accredited by any of the signatory bodies be recognized by the other bodies as having met the academic requirements for entry to the practice of engineering in the area of their jurisdiction. It encourages and facilitates the mobility of engineering graduates and professionals at international level. Permanent membership of the Washington Accord will benefit hundreds of thousands of students from more than 3,000 engineering colleges in the country, says the All-India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), which regulates technical education. It will make the four-year bachelor of technology (B. Tech.) degree offered by AICTE-approved and accredited institutes equivalent to similar degrees offered in 13 other permanent member countries of the accord. These are the US, the UK, Australia, Canada, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Ireland, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore and South Africa. The Washington Accord came into R S. Publication (rspublication.com), [email protected]

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existence in 1989. To become its permanent member, a country needs to be a temporary member for two years. India, Russia, Turkey, Germany, Pakistan and Sri Lanka currently hold temporary membership. 4.2

Sydney Accord The

Sydney

Accord

is

an

agreement

between

the

bodies

responsible

for accrediting engineering technologist qualification programs in each of the signatory countries. It recognizes the substantial equivalency of programs accredited by those bodies, and recommends that graduates of accredited programs in any of the signatory countries be recognized by the other countries as having met the academic requirements for entry to the practice of engineering technologist. The Sydney Accord was signed in 2001. The scope of the Sydney Accord only covers the academic requirement or an engineering technologist qualification. Engineering technologist titles do not transfer directly between signatory countries, that don't have reciprocating agreements, because the signatory countries reserve the right to scrutinize foreign titles and compare them to their own licensing criteria. However, this does not mean the titles are not respected by employers within those signatory countries. 4.3 Dublin Accord The Dublin Accord is an agreement for the international recognition of Engineering Technician qualifications. In May 2002, the national engineering organizations of the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland, South Africa and Canada signed an agreement mutually recognizing the qualifications which underpin the granting of Engineering Technician titles in the four countries. Currently, there are 8 signatories to the Dublin Accord: Australia, Canada, Ireland, Korea, New Zealand, South Africa, United Kingdom and the United States. 4.4 Accreditor in USA (ABET) ABET is a non-profit and non-governmental accrediting agency for academic programs in the disciplines of applied science, computing, engineering, and engineering technology. ABET is a recognized accreditor in the United States (U.S.) by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation. ABET accreditation provides assurance that a college or university program meets R S. Publication (rspublication.com), [email protected]

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the quality standards established by the profession for which the program prepares its students. ABET accredits postsecondary programs housed in degree-granting institutions which have been recognized by national or regional institutional accreditation agencies or national education authorities worldwide. In the U.S., there are two types of academic accreditation: (1) Institutional and (2) Specialized or Programmatic. Institutional Accreditation is provided by regional and national accreditors and evaluates overall institutional quality, but does not focus on a given academic program. Specialized or Programmatic Accreditation evaluates an individual program of study, rather than an institution as a whole. This type of accreditation is granted to a specific program at a variety of degree levels (Associate’s, Bachelor’s and Master’s). Of these two types of accreditation, ABET provides only specialized accreditation for programs; ABET does not accredit degrees, departments, colleges, institutions, or individuals. ABET undertakes specialized accreditation for programs at various levels through its four accreditation commissions: 

Applied Science Accreditation Commission (ASAC), which accredits an applied science program at the associate's, bachelor's, or master's degree level.



Computing Accreditation Commission (CAC), which accredits a computing program at the bachelor's degree level only.



Engineering Accreditation Commission (EAC), which accredits an engineering program at the bachelor's or master's degree level.



Engineering Technology Accreditation Commission (ETAC), which accredits an engineering technology program at the associate's or bachelor's degree levels.

V. IITs TOWARD ACCREDITATION Our government wants all Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) to be role models for all institutions in our country to get accreditation at par with international standards. IITs will open themselves to accreditation to get into the Washington Accord, which facilitates recognition of degrees by signatory countries. However, unlike other institutes where the accreditation is carried out by an external agency, the National Board of Accreditation of IITs will hold their R S. Publication (rspublication.com), [email protected]

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own review. The internal review of IITs is much more stringent than the accreditation process itself. Besides, members from outside (but from within the IIT family) will be engaged in the accreditation. The review will help India to meet the requirements of Washington Accord. India is keen to join this group permanently. The development would also encourage other institutes including the private ones to emulate IITs feat and raise the quality of teaching. Significantly, the IITs would also put themselves through an external peer review to be carried every five year. The directors’ performance would also be evaluated, in a development that promises to add to the

overall

profile

of

the

IITs

in

the

national

and

international

space.

VI. CONCLUSION In our country, the educational institutions, particularly, technical institutions have mushroomed in the recent years. Most of the institutions are not having even the basic infrastructure facilities. This problem is the major challenge to our country to go for the international standards. There are thousands of graduates coming out every year from the institutions in our country. But only very few of them are able to get better employability. This shows that they are not having the communication and technical skills. The government must take stringent action against the institutions those who are not having the minimum standards. We will hope that if the bill NARAHEI-2010 is passed, then there will be the possibility of improvement of standards in technical institutions in our country.

REFERENCES [1] http://www.nbaind.org [2] http://www.naac.gov.in [3] http://www.washingtonaccord.org [4] http://www.washingtonaccord.org/washington-accord/ [5] http://www.washingtonaccord.org/sydney/ [6] http://www.washingtonaccord.org/dublin/ [7] http://www.ieagreements.org


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AUTHOR DETAILS Prof. M. Senthil Kumar was born in Ramanathapuram District, Tamil Nadu, India in 1982. He obtained his B.Sc., M.Sc. and M.Tech. degrees in Electronics in the years 2002, 2004 and 2006 respectively. He has more than 7 years of teaching experience. He has presented more than 30 research papers in various national and international conferences. He has also published more than 10 research papers in reputed international journals. He has guided several UG and PG students for their project work. His area of interest is Energy Conservation and Optimization Techniques in Wireless Sensor Networks. Currently, he is with Ranganathan Engineering College, Coimbatore, India, as Assistant Professor in the Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering.

Prof. Dr. P. Sivakumar was born in Salem District, Tamil Nadu, India in 1967. He obtained his M.A., M.B.A., M.Phil. and Ph.D. degrees in Management Studies from Alagappa University, Karaikudi, Tamil Nadu, India. He has more than 20 years of administrative experience in various reputed organizations. He has published more than 20 research papers in reputed international journals. Presently, he is with Ranganathan Educational Institutions, Coimbatore, India, as Chief Executive Officer.


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