Updated on: Monday, February 06, 2012
Engineering colleges and technical institutions in the country will be forced to maintain quality now with the National Board of Accreditation (NBA) spearheading a new accreditation system, a top official of the agency said.
Various crucial aspects of technical education would be scrutinised and colleges that fulfil the set criteria would get accreditation, NBA Member-Secretary D K Paliwal said.
NBA has just prepared a new accreditation manual to help professional colleges impart quality education, he said inaugurating a two-day national seminar on salient aspects of the new accreditation system (Washington Accord) at Kariappatti near here.
NBA is a provisional Member of Washington Accord, an international agreement aimed at bringing about global quality standards in technical education among member countries.
Paliwal cautioned the colleges that the new accreditation system was purely an outcome-based system and they had to necessarily focus on competence, quality, relevance and students' employability as India geared up to become a permanent signatory of the Washington Accord.
"A new accreditation system became essential due to increasing migration of professionals and mobility of students. So, internationally accepted accreditation procedures had to be put in place so that countries will be assured of uniformity in quality," he said.
The NBA is stepping up its quality checks as India, which has been recognised as a rising economic power, cannot afford to be outside that quality league, he stressed. The NBA will soon start receiving accreditation applications online.