The National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) is poised to roll out a new Maturity-Based Graded Levels accreditation system by the end of February, aiming to reform the assessment process of higher education institutions (HEIs) in India. This move comes amidst concerns over alleged corruption within the council, prompting the need for greater transparency and accountability.
Anil D Sahasrabudhe, Chairperson of NAAC’s Executive Committee, confirmed that the council has been working on major reforms and is set to implement the new system soon. “The Maturity-Based Graded Levels accreditation will eliminate any possibility of illicit activities as it involves stakeholder validation,” he stated.
The upcoming accreditation framework will phase out physical inspections, replacing them with a data-driven approach. Stakeholders, including industry professionals, will play a key role in the ranking and accreditation process. To ensure authenticity, institutions found guilty of submitting incorrect data will face severe penalties.
New Accreditation Levels for HEIs
The new accreditation system introduces a five-level grading structure to encourage institutions to continuously improve their academic standards. The levels include:
Level 1-4: Progressively higher standards, culminating in ‘Institutions of National Excellence’.
Level 5: Recognized as ‘Institutions of Global Excellence for Multi-Disciplinary Research and Education’.
A brainstorming session involving 40-50 experts is scheduled for February 16-17 to finalize the new framework, which is expected to be implemented by the end of the month.
Addressing Corruption and Strengthening Accreditation
The reforms are a response to ongoing allegations of irregularities in NAAC’s accreditation process. Recently, NAAC inspection committee members were arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for allegedly accepting bribes to grant favorable ratings to a university. This incident follows similar controversies in February 2023.
The reforms were originally proposed in a January 2024 report by the Overarching Committee, chaired by former ISRO chief K Radhakrishnan. The report, titled Reforms for Strengthening Assessment and Accreditation in Higher Education Institutions, was approved by the Union Ministry of Education (MoE).
To ensure wider participation in the new accreditation process, NAAC plans to engage with state higher education departments. Currently, accreditation remains largely voluntary, with only 30-40% of HEIs applying for assessment. In a bid to transition smoothly to the new methodology, NAAC had stopped accepting new applications under the old system from July 2024.
The introduction of Maturity-Based Graded Levels aligns with the National Education Policy (NEP), which calls for a transparent and trustworthy accreditation system for higher education institutions in India.
