NAAC To Categorise HEIs As 'Accredited' or 'Not Accredited': Point Scale Grading To Be Shelved

As part of its new norms, the NAAC has also decided to introduce levels between one and five for accredited institutions to encourage and motivate them to achieve the highest level.

NAAC To Introduce New Grading System For HEIs (Representational Image)

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The National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) on Saturday, has decided that the HEIs (Higher Education Institutions) across the country will no longer be awarded with ‘grades,’ under the accreditation system. Instead, the council will now categorise HEIs as "accredited" or "not accredited," news agency PTI reported. 

In its executive council meeting, the NAAC has further decided to introduce levels between one and five for accredited institutions to encourage and motivate them to achieve the highest level. Furthermore, the new grading system will be introduced in a phased manner. While the binary accreditation (accredited or not accredited) system will be brought in the next four months, and Maturity-Based Graded Accreditation (level 1 to 5) will be roped in by December.

"There will be Binary Accreditation (either accredited or not accredited) rather than grades with an aim to encourage all the institutions to get on-boarded in the accreditation process thereby creating a quality culture in the higher education system,” a senior official of the Ministry of Education (MoE) was quoted as saying on the development by news agency PTI.  The binary accreditation is also in line with the best practices followed in many leading countries in the world," he was further reported as saying. 

As per the new norms, the Maturity-Based Graded Accreditation (Level 1 to 5) will be introduced for accredited institutions to foster them to achieve the highest level of 5, which is "Institutions of Global Excellence for Multi-Disciplinary Research and Education.” The new accreditation will boost institutions to improve their overall quality and standards and help them position among the best institutions around the globe, the official said. 

Notably, as per the current grading system, the NAAC grades HEIs on a seven point scale, where the point scale refers to the seven letter grades each aligned to the seven specific score-range. The official further said that an expert committee set up by the ministry has suggested several transformative reforms to strengthen the periodic approval, assessment and accreditation, and ranking of HEIs. 

Notably, the National Education Policy 2020 (NEP 2020) set a target of 50 per cent Gross Enrolment Ratio by 2035, for which the MoE constituted a committee headed by K Radhakrishnan, former chairman of ISRO in November 2022. Following consultation from Public, the committee presented its final report to the Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on January 16, 2024. 

(With inputs from PTI)