NAAC to give 2-year Extension to HEIs with Good Grades

The National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC), Bengaluru, will give an extension of two years in their accreditation to the educational institutions which get the highest grade from NAAC.

Recently a decision was taken by the council to extend the validity period of NAAC accreditation from five years to seven years for institutions that secure the highest grade for three continuous cycles. In case an institution applies for reaccreditation within the designated period of six months before the end of the cycle of accreditation, the gap period between two consecutive accreditations will be approved. In the case of other institutions which have not applied as per the NAAC guidelines, the maximum duration for approval would be one year between two consecutive accreditation cycles.

If an institution is graded with A++ and A+, which is 3.51 and above out of 4, in currently enforced seven point scale of NAAC, then it will be considered as the highest accreditation for these regulations.

The director of NAAC, DP Singh said that keeping in mind the maturity of the quality assurance processes in these institutes and the high degree of standards and consistency, the council took the decision of extension to seven years.

The University Grants Commission (UGC) will consider granting autonomy to colleges that have received the highest NAAC accreditation in two consecutive cycles. Apart from a high NAAC grade, autonomy will be granted to those institutes only that adhere to the UGC regulations.

The new framework adopted by NAAC in July 2022 will help an institute focus on industry linkages, women’s empowerment, inculcation of human values, and access for the differently abled and professional ethics, among other things.

NAAC has worked out several methods for electronic assessment and accreditation as part of which educational institutions applying for second and third cycle accreditation can be considered for electronic assessment and accreditation.