NAAC's role in empowering enablement

IT IS relevant at this point to bring out the ambivalent approach of the academic community in this regard which is inexplicable. The faculty not only agrees but also welcomes the external assessment by the peers in the realm of their research function but are resistant to the same if it comes to their teaching function. All the research proposals are subjected to intensive peer review before funding and the research papers are reviewed even internationally before publication. Virtually all funding for research is allocated selectively, according to quality. However, when the question of external review of an institution for the total quality education comes, they are very reluctant.

We should not forget, that the primary function of the faculty in the universities and colleges is to provide the total quality experience to students, unlike the scientists in the national laboratories who can afford to concentrate only on research. The quality of educational services during the past 50 years has been on the decline. This is so because of the rapid expansion of the system and the concomitant pressure - both explicit and implicit - to downscale the standards to suit the low achievers. However, the need to improve the quality and the standards of provisions to at least the level of the average achievers, if not the best, has now become imperative. The assessment and accreditation process which is multi-dimensional, is designed to bring out the strengths and weakness of the system, so that effective corrective steps can be taken to reach this expectation. Therefore, instead of being unduly sensitive and defensive, the academic community should welcome this effort and help in improving the image of the institutions to which they belong.

NAAC's assessment process is internal to the overall system of education and is based on the self-study and self-assessment by the institution, while reviewed by the senior academic-colleagues in the profession. The motive is not fault finding consequent on a magisterial inspection, but it is one of empowering enablement to achieve better. Alternatively, there is the danger of others stepping in to assess the institutions, because the stakeholders are not only anxious but demand to know the relative standing of the institutions and the quality of education they provide. Higher education has to cope with the trend akin to the sellers market. Gone are the days when the academic community could decide as to what education they should impart. Already the media has found that their assessment and rating of the educational institutions and programmes have been received well by the public, and thus are encouraged to review the institutions every year, at the time of admissions. International bodies like ISO and their affiliates like QCI have expanded their sphere of operation to include education. Quite a few private agencies and corporate bodies are knocking at the doors. Society wants to know from where it can get quality education like any other consumer durable, and looks for a stamp of quality. If we don't rise up to the expectations and provide the information needed, it will seek and get the same from one source or the other.

A.G.& A.S.

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