India’s National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) plans to put greater weight on institutional outcomes than on resources and paperwork under a new accreditation framework, its executive committee chairman Nageshwar Rao said.
The framework is being shaped by recommendations from the 2024 Radhakrishnan Committee. Institutions would need to show tangible results, including commercially relevant patents and the number of skilled students they produce.
The common Self-Study Report would be replaced by differentiated assessment formats and metrics under Maturity-Based Graded Levels. Rao said the new system would place greater trust in institutions and shorten assessment timelines. He cautioned that the metrics were still being finalised and urged colleges not to rely on unverified online information.
Participants at a workshop in Andhra Pradesh also called on internal quality assurance cells to focus on improving institutional quality rather than mainly preparing documents. State Higher Education Commissioner Narayana Bharat Gupta said 293 of around 2,800 colleges had accreditation, while about 800 had not declared their status. The state aims for 60% institutional accreditation next year.