The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : NAAC plans to network colleges nationwide

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Aug 19, 2007
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

NAAC plans to network colleges nationwide

Rasheed Kappan

BANGALORE: Quality assurance in higher education institutions would mean little if not monitored constantly. To ensure that quality is a round-the-clock, round-the-year “live” concept, the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) now wants to link up colleges and universities nationwide through the EDUSAT satellite.

“We want to give guidance on quality improvement through live connectivity from right here in the NAAC office,” NAAC Director V.S. Prasad told The Hindu.

Programmes would be beamed from a hi-tech studio at NAAC’s ultra-modern campus at Nagarabhavi here. The facility would start functioning in six months, opening a new chapter in quality control.

Once the EDUSAT-NAAC network kicks off, the council would bring in quality and higher education experts from across the world to the NAAC office to beam the programmes live. “Besides, the colleges and universities could also talk to one another through this facility,” Mr. Prasad said.

The project will include the University Grants Commission (UGC), the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), which will provide the EDUSAT channel, and the State Government.

The Government’s Visvesvaraya Technological University (VTU) had pioneered satellite connectivity in the State, by linking up its affiliated engineering colleges through an EDUSAT channel.

With satellite connectivity, NAAC hopes to help accredited colleges improve the activities of their Internal Quality Assurance Cells. The cell is a key element of NAAC’s assessment and accreditation process. “We want to be of some use as a knowledge provider,” Dr. Prasad said.

With research on quality assessment getting greater attention at NAAC, the proposed network is expected to help the council disseminate new findings quickly to the colleges. About 20,000 sq ft of the one lakh sq ft built-up area at the new NAAC campus is exclusively devoted to a Quality Resource Centre. The studio for the satellite network will be part of this centre.

NAAC has so far accredited 140 of the 300-plus universities in the country. It has also assessed and rated 3,496 general degree colleges. UGC now considers NAAC accreditation an additional parameter to confer autonomy and Potential for Excellence status to higher education institutions.

In Karnataka, NAAC has accredited eight universities and 468 colleges. While Bangalore University and Karnatak University have been granted five-star rating, the University of Mysore has been reaccredited with an A + rating. Gulbarga and Mangalore varsities have four-star ratings, while Kuvempu University has got a three-star. Manipal University with a B + and Kannada University with a B ++ are the other two varsities.

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