Relevance of accreditation and management education in indian education essay

Assistant Adviser, NAAC

” If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.”

— Old proverb.

Abstract:

Development of managerial talents needs to be supported by acquisition of knowledge, skills, infuse the right type of attitudes in the young minds, woven with social values and ethics. A good ethical value in management is what business community owes to the society. Challenges in implementing the business needs to be dealt with vitality of the business, ability to scale up, courage to implement certain policies, green environment policy etc. The business environment is changing interms of production, marketing, construction, communication and several other areas. Higher Education in Management must deal with such issues to train the young graduates in terms of handling and come out with innovative way. Management education in India is yet to reach the professionalism compared to the developed countries. Scientific training in management is yet to develop in Indian context. University level institutions should encourage research in management education to help the young graduates to put their knowledge and skills together. Entrepreneurship development, Industry-Institution Partnership, Integrating ” Experiential learning”, Industry-linked project needs to be part of curriculum, so that young minds would be guided and carved in such areas to cope with the global demands. The society is demanding good leaders to raise the quality of life in transforming the Indian community. It would be possible by making our young graduates in improving the student outcomes. Government should make effectiveness in delivering the services and sharpen the accountability. Accreditation helps the institutions to know its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities & challenges, identifies internal areas of planning and resource allocation, and enhances collegiality, initiates institution into innovative and modern methods of pedagogy. For stakeholders (students, parents and community) it helps with reliable information on the quality of education offered by the institution; employers can make use of accreditation status for recruitment / employment; academic staff and support staff can be proud of their status of the institution and satisfaction of being in a quality driven institution. It also provides the funding agencies with objective and systematic database for performance funding; signifies the alumni that they are proud and pride of passing out with credentials. It also ensures that the institutional products (student) meet industry requirements and are acceptable human resource in global job market. Major advantages of accreditation are to the students’ community is to pursue the higher education abroad. Many countries/universities are looking the prospective students only from the accredited institutions. In the coming days it will be decisive factor to ensure the quality in the higher education in India. The National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) is one of the premier accrediting agencies in India to evaluate the performance of higher education institutions. NAAC was established in the year 1994 and started its activity of assessment during the year 1998-99. It took around four to five years to overcome the initial resistance and convince the institutions and academia to come forward for assessment and accreditation by NAAC. The resistance to evaluation was a natural response to being evaluated for the first time. At present the process is voluntary. With the assessment and accreditation of 6197 institutions (172 Universities and 4867 Colleges, including 75 Universities and 1058 Colleges Re-accreditation, 24 colleges and one University for third cycle) in the country, as on 16th Sept. 2012, the NAAC has made its efforts to spearhead quality culture among higher education institutions in India through its various activities. NAAC has accredited more than 45 institutions of Management which are located in different parts of the country. Indian Management Institutions needs to be accredited to compete in the global scenario and also to participate in the market oriented educational system. India should devise and develop benchmark standards for management education which would further enhance the quality of management education. This paper would focus on the quality in management education, accreditation and measures to upgrade the Indian business schools.

Introduction

Doing the business and managing the business needs skill. Development of managerial talents needs to be supported by acquisition of knowledge and skills and infuse the right type of attitudes woven with social values and ethics. Indian management institutions are following the regular curriculum prescribed by the regulatory body AICTE. The curriculum would focuses and emphasizes mainly on general subjects in various areas of management such as business law and ethics, managerial economics, finance, organizational behavior and human resource, principles of management, marketing, quantitative methods, information technology in management etc. Students can also opt to specialization in selected areas for at a later year of study. Postgraduate full-time management programmes focuses on different specialization, students to undertake summer internship and project work etc. Increasingly more and more institutions emphasize on behavioural, communication and soft skills. Management education institutions are trying their level best to meet the industry needs and constructively make necessary changes in the curriculum for further enhancing the student outcomes. However, proper interaction cell in the institutions or an incubation centre would enable the young researcher as well as the faculty to have more fruitful interaction with senior managers, experts in the industry and service sector. It would enable the young minds to infuse with the latest managerial skills and strategies to adapt and overcome the difficulties in real situations.

Management Education in India

Management education in India began in the 1950s as a part-time education for practicing executives, and full-time management degrees offered by a few universities. Later, in the year 1962, the Government of India established the Indian Institutes of Management (IIM) at Calcutta and Ahmadabad in collaboration with the Harvard Business School. A full-time two-year postgraduate degree programme of international quality in management was launched at IIMs in India. Soon several commerce departments in Universities redesigned their curriculum to offer an MBA degree. Later on, IIMs were established in Bangalore, Lucknow, Indore, Kozhikode, Shilling and Ranchi for region-wise to allocate the demands of students and stakeholders. During 1990s, many Universities have started departments /schools of management in the country. As of now, India has more than 1700 higher education institutions which are running management programmes. During the last decade, the number of management programme offering institutions has increased in multiple folds, but Ph. D. in management is yet to have a more visibility in Indian Context. Quality of a nation depends upon the quality of its citizen and the quality of the citizens in turn depends on the quality of their education. The quality of the institution depends on the quality of the students it produces. It means good academic environment, teaching-learning process, research, campus life, classrooms and its environment, support services and infrastructure, modernization of library, updation of library books, journals and reference materials in the institutions. The major component is teaching-learning process and its effectiveness. Modern classrooms are more vibrant than the earlier days, because students are very energetic. Traditional teaching has, quite expectedly has taken a beating. Teaching community need to feel the pulse of the young mind. In other words, ‘ see what they see’ must be the logo at the work place called a classroom. Good performance of the institutions helps them attract more research projects, good students, parental support and social image. If an institution takes up more and more projects, more would be the flow of resources (human as well as infrastructural) in the institution and moreover, there are better chances of the institution getting new projects and further assistances. In short resources and reputation tend to be mutually reinforcing. Accreditation of institutions by the national agency gives the students an academic mobility to continue their further study in their country or abroad. Institutions should gear up for the quality enhancement activities to bring excellence in terms of their research and teaching. It will be carried only in partnership with student’s community. Today’s students (consumer) are tomorrow’s producer (faculty). The quality culture and innovation needs to be induced in the process of education (learning) so that it multiplies when they become the producer or put in to action. The global development in the higher education scenario warrants the institutions to include in its scope of student assessment, the development of skills of students on par with their counterparts abroad. Globalization of higher education necessitates a good human resources and high calibre persons to handle the high profile jobs. Consequently, the demand for higher education of nationally comparable and internationally acceptable standards needs to be developed. While increasing access to higher education, ensuring social justice would continue to be important objectives of Governments for national development, developing internationally and inter-culturally competent human resources is also of equal importance.

Quality Assurance in Global Context

Quality assurance, in higher education, has become a generic term used as shorthand for all forms of external quality monitoring, evaluation or review. Assurance is formally restricted to establishing whether the explicit or implicit pledge made by an institution or programme has been met. However, the mechanisms for quality assurance, both internal and external to an institution or programme, are so diverse that they overlap with mechanisms and rationales for reviewing and checking quality. Hence, it is often difficult be precise about the dividing line between assuring, evaluating, assessing or auditing quality. (Harvey, L., 2004–9, Analytic Quality Glossary)Woodhouse (1999, p. 30) maintains that quality assurance is about maintenance and enhancement of quality. The phrase quality assurance refers to the policies, attitudes, actions and procedures necessary to ensure that quality is being maintained and enhanced. It may include any one or more of the approaches … [audit, assessment, and accreditation]. Quality assurance is sometimes used in a more restricted sense, either to denote the achievement of a minimum standard or to refer to assuring stakeholders that quality is being achieved (i. e. accountability). Further, the UNESCO definition enlarges that Quality Assurance is an all-embracing term referring to an ongoing, continuous process of evaluating (assessing, monitoring, guaranteeing, maintaining, and improving) the quality of a higher education system, institutions, or programmes. As a regulatory mechanism, quality assurance focuses on both accountability and improvement, providing information and judgments (not ranking) through an agreed upon and consistent process and well-established criteria. Many systems make a distinction between internal quality assurance (i. e., intra-institutional practices in view of monitoring and improving the quality of higher education) and external quality assurance (i. e., inter- or supra-institutional schemes of assuring the quality of higher education institutions and programmes). Quality assurance activities depend on the existence of the necessary institutional mechanisms preferably sustained by a solid quality culture. Quality management, quality enhancement, quality control, and quality assessment are means through which quality assurance is ensured. The scope of quality assurance is determined by the shape and size of the higher education system. Quality assurance varies from accreditation, in the sense that the former is only a prerequisite for the latter. In practice, the relationship between the two varies a great deal from one country to another. Both imply various consequences such as the capacity to operate and to provide educational services, the capacity to award officially recognized degrees, and the right to be funded by the state. Quality assurance is often considered as a part of the quality management of higher education, while sometimes the two terms are used synonymously. (Vlãsceanu et al., 2004, pp. 48–49)CHEA (2001) implies that external quality assurance focuses on standards monitoring and refers to enhancement as well maintenance of quality. Quality Assurance is a planned and systematic review process of an institution or program to determine that acceptable standards of education, scholarship, and infrastructure are being maintained and enhanced. Usually includes expectations that mechanisms of quality control are in place and effective. Also (U. K.), the means through which an institution confirms that the conditions are in place for students to achieve the standards set by the institution or other awarding body. HEQC (2004, p. 28) document states that Quality assurance is a processes of ensuring that specified standards or requirements have been achieved. Centrex (2004) frames it simply as an institutional confirmation of achieved standards. Quality Assurance is the means by which an organisation confirms that conditions are in place for students to achieve the standards set by the training organisation.

International Network for Quality Assurance Agencies in Higher Education (INQAAHE) is a world-wide association of more than 200 organisations active in the theory and practice of quality assurance in higher education. The great majority of its members are quality assurance agencies that operate in different countries. NAAC is a member

The table presented below would give the International Comparison of Quality Assurance Agencies. CountryAgencyAccreditation/AuditUnited KingdomQuality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA)303 Programme from 2004South AfricaSouth African Council on Higher Education (CHE)29 Institutions Accredited. AustraliaAustralian Universities Quality Agency (AUQA)Around 68 Institutions Audited including second cycleUnited States of AmericaCHEA, ABETCHEA recognizes the Accrediting Agencies -ABET – Accredited programs and around 2, 900 AccreditedHong KongHong Kong Council for Accreditation of Academic and Vocational QualificationsAccredited around 103 InstitutionsChinaMinistry of Education (MoE) develops structure optimization , quality assurance, management standardization. Yet to have the proper Mechanism for AccreditationInteracted with NAACJapanJapan University Accreditation Association (JUAA)Accredited and re-Accredited around 325 InstitutionsIndiaNational Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC)Institutional AccreditationHas accredited more than 6000 Institutions

National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC)

The University Grants Commission (UGC) established the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) in 1994 at Bangalore. NAAC vision and mission statements clearly specifies its functioning highlighting quality assurance mechanism in higher education institutions with the combination of self and external quality evaluation, promotion & sustenance activities and initiatives. The prime agenda of NAAC is to Assess and Accredit institutions of higher learning with an objective of helping them to work continuously to improve the quality of education. Assessment is a performance evaluation of an institution and /or its units and is accomplished through a process based on self-study and peer review using defined criteria. Accreditation refers to the certification given by NAAC which is valid for a period of five Years. The process of Assessment followed by NAAC is in accordance with internationally accepted practice but, with certain modifications to suit the Indian context. The philosophy of NAAC is ameliorative and enabling rather than punitive or judgmental, so that all constituencies of institutions of higher learning are empowered to maximize their resources, opportunities and capabilities. With the assessment and accreditation of 4804 institutions (159 Universities and 4171 Colleges, including 55 Universities and 419 Colleges Re-accreditation) in the country, as on 04th Sept. 2010, the NAAC has made its efforts to spearhead quality culture among higher education institutions in India through its various activities. AccreditedRe-Accredited3rd CycleNumber of Colleges4867105824Number of Universities172751Total5039113325

Grand Total= 6197

Management Colleges Accredited by NAAC

40

NAAC follows the following criteria for Assessment (Up to May 2012)Criteria – I : Curricular AspectsCriteria – II : Teaching-Learning and EvaluationCriteria – III : Research, consultancy and ExtensionCriteria – IV : Infrastructure and Learning ResourcesCriteria – V : Student Support and ProgressionCriteria – VI : Governance and LeadershipCriteria – VII : Innovative PracticesThe management institutions are basically affiliated to state universities/ technical universities. The universities concerned on the recommendations of the AICTE and their affiliated would allow management institutions to run the programmes. As per the NAAC guidelines they would come under the affiliated colleges. The Criteria, Key Aspects and the Key Aspect-wise differential Weightages under each Criterion of the affiliated /constituent college are given below:

Criteria

Key Aspects

Affiliated/ Constituent College

I. Curricular

Aspects

1. 1 Curricular design and development101. 2 Academic flexibility151. 3 Feedback on curriculum101. 4 Curriculum update051. 5 Best Practices in curricular aspects10

Total

50

II. Teaching-Learning

and Evaluation

2. 1 Admission process and student profile302. 2 Catering to diverse needs452. 3 Teaching-learning process2702. 4 Teacher quality652. 5 Evaluation process and reforms302. 6 Best practices in teaching, learning and evaluation10

Total

450

III. Research,

Consultancy

and Extension

3. 1 Promotion of research153. 2 Research and publication output253. 3 Consultancy053. 4 Extension activities403. 5 Collaborations053. 6 Best practices in research, consultancy & extension10Total100

IV. Infrastructure and

Learning Resources

4. 1 Physical facilities204. 2 Maintenance of infrastructure104. 3 Library as a learning resource354. 4 ICT as Learning resources154. 5 Other facilities104. 6 Best Practices in the development ofinfrastructure and learning resources10

Total

100

V. Student

Support and Progression

5. 1 Student progression305. 2 Student support305. 3 Student activities305. 4 Best practices in student supportand progression10

Total

100

VI. Governance and

Leadership

6. 1 Institutional vision and leadership156. 2 Organizational arrangements206. 3 Strategy development anddeployment30

6. 4 Human resource management

406. 5 Financial management and resourcemobilization356. 6 Best practices in governance andleadership10

Total

150

VII. Innovative Practices

7. 1 Internal quality assurance system207. 2 Inclusive practices157. 3 Stakeholder relationships15

Total

50

TOTAL SCORE

1000

Assessment Indicators

The seven Criteria and key aspects have been designed to bring rigour in the assessment of the institution. Each key aspect of a criterion has number of assessment indicators, which is being used as guidelines/ probes by the Peer Team members to capture the micro-level quality parameters of the institution and arrive at an enhanced adjudication of the key aspect-wise quality status of the institution.

The Assessment Outcome

There are two outcomes of Assessment and Accreditation: The qualitative part of the outcome is called Peer team Report and the quantitative part would result in Cumulative Grade Point Average, a letter grade and descriptor. Peer Team Report: It consists of Section-I: Profile of the Institution; Section-II: Criterion-wise Analysis; Section-III: Overall Analysis; Section-IV: Recommendations for Quality Enhancement of the Institution. For more details about the report you may log on to NAAC website: www. naac. gov. inGrading: Grading which indicates quality status Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA), letter grade and performance descriptor. After Assessment, the CGPA of an Institution is computed. If the overall CGPA is more than 1. 50, the institution will get the ” Accredited” status and a CGPA equal to or less than 1. 50 will lead to the ” Not Accredited” status. The final declaration of the accreditation status of an institution is as follows:(From 1st April 2007)Range of institutional Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA)Letter GradePerformance Descriptor3. 01 – 4. 00AVery Good(Accredited)2. 01 – 3. 00BGood(Accredited)1. 51 – 2. 00CSatisfactory(Accredited)< 1. 50DUnsatisfactory(Not accredited)Institutions which secure a CGPA equal to or less than 1. 50, are notionally categorized under the letter grade " D" (Performance Descriptor: Unsatisfactory; Status: Not Accredited). Such institutions will also be intimated and notified by NAAC as " assessed and found not qualified for accreditation". The period of accreditation status is valid for five years from the date of approval by the Executive Committee of NAAC. Assessment by any external agency will help the institutions to know its strength and weakness and further it enables the institutions to look forward for future. It also helps the institutions to build its brand image and boosts the social image in the society.

Some of the Benefits of NAAC Accreditation are: –

for InstitutionsHelps the institution to know its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and challenges through an informed review. To identify internal areas of planning and resource allocation. Enhances collegiality in the campus. It signifies to the parents that their ward goes through a good academic environment institution. Initiates institution into innovative and modern methods of pedagogy. Gives the institution a new sense of direction and identity. Offers institution an opportunity to make its own benchmarkingprovides institution a quality label that can be used in competition; Promotes intra-institutional and inter institutional initiatives. for StakeholdersProvides the society (students, parents and community) with reliable information on the quality of education offered by the institution; Employers can make use of accreditation status for recruitment / employment; Academic staff and support staff can be proud of their status of the institution and satisfaction of being in a quality driven institution; Accreditation outcome provides the funding agencies with objective and systematic database for performance funding. Employers have access to information on standards of institutions during recruitment. Signifies the alumni that they are proud and pride of passing out with credentials. Ensures that the institutional products (student) meet industry requirements and are acceptable human resource in global job market. One of the advantages of Accreditation to the students’ community is to pursue the higher education abroad. Many countries/universities are looking the prospective students only from the accredited institutions. NAAC is receiving number of queries from different countries, quality assurance agencies and ministries regarding the assessment of institutions in India. A few universities are considering the NAAC accreditation for admission, scholarship, free ships etc., to the student’s community. In the recent developments the US Government is considering the Indian institutions three years degree programme in their country for further study provided they should come from the NAAC accredited ‘ A’ grade institutions. In the coming days, it would be a decisive factor to ensure the quality in the higher education in India and also for mutual recognition in the International context. Throughout the world the assessment and accreditation by an external agency has become a part of recognition for mutual recognition and cross border of higher education. India being the country with the youngest population would be able to create a larger growing labour force which would deliver greater gains in terms of growth and prosperity. Management institutions would be benefitted through the accreditation by NAAC, further it enhances the morale of the faculty, staff and students. It would further strengthen its stand to compete at the global market.

Student’s Participation for Quality Enhancement

Institutions need to build on the recent technological developments and enrich the learning experience to produce good human beings. Academic activity, co-curricular, extra-curricular activities, counselling, mentoring, group discussion, project work, peer group teaching, open book examination etc., may be conducted for the benefit of the students. For example, skill enhancement programmes can be conducted by collecting moderate fee and employing external faculty. Wall magazine, creative corner, inspirations point, clubs, associations may activate the creative writing and communication skills of the students. Placement Cell should facilitate the students for internship, campus placement, job fairs and regular employment enhancement training programmes. Entrepreneurship development, Industry-Institution Partnership, Integrating ” Experiential learning”, Industry-linked project needs to be part of curriculum so that young minds would be guided and carved in such areas to cope with the global demands. The society is demanding good leaders to raise the quality of life in transforming the Indian community by making our young graduates in improving the student outcomes. The business environment is changing in terms of production, marketing, construction, communication and several other areas. Higher Education in Management must deal with such issues to train the young graduates in terms of handling and come out with innovative ways. Chanakya quotes that ” Once you start working on something, don’t be afraid of failure and don’t abandon it. People who work sincerely are the happiest.” An entrepreneur should be bold and think innovatively. The entrepreneurship would give social recognition, huge monetary rewards and the desire to do something exceptional and think efficiently. Hard work, humility, reinventing, risk taking and commitment are some of the qualities an entrepreneur should posses. One should also need to develop analytical ability, intellectual quotient (IQ) and Emotional Quotient (EQ) and think out of the box. Entrepreneurship brings in lots of rewards, there may be risks, including financial and stress on family life, and the need for a round-the-clock thought process but the ultimate achievement in the due course of time which would give the satisfaction. The industry needs the graduates with attributes like good communication skills; ability to work in a team; effective time management; critical appraisal skills. Employability is another factor which makes lot of difference in terms of the quality of management colleges. To get placed in a good company, skills such as communication, aptitude, and attitude are required. It is important for a student to select an institution, which provides facilities to enhance communication skills, group discussions, training, personality development and interview techniques, develop their managerial qualities including effective planning, organizational capabilities, responsibility handling and decision making etc. Employability in the institution could be enhanced by bringing employers into the course design; modifying courses to match industries; using guest lecturers from business; building links with local employers. Employability is enhanced by developing a mutual awareness between graduates and industry; providing information on jobs and graduates seeking work in industries; close liaison with the higher education institutions’ careers services; assisting with industries recruitment, and advising on the training; provision of central training and mentoring support for graduates in industry; marketing materials for industries and graduates; liaison with other relevant schemes. Employability is about making closer links between education and the world of work; developed through advice and encouragement. Employability skills workshops; employer mentoring; confidence building; tailored service; positive action; embedded placements; assistance with part-time work; a responsive programme that accommodates industry changes through good links with past graduates and media companies; skill development; training students as mentors etc.

Conclusion:

The rapid change in the economy and the effect of globalization and liberalization has certainly made an impact in the Indian Higher Education system. The privatization of the education sector has made an impact in the country. If the country needs to develop its economy and the status of the people it has to invest more on the higher education sector also. Indian Management Institutions needs to be accredited to compete in the global scenario and also to participate in the market oriented educational system. India should devise and develop benchmark standards for management education which would further enhance the quality of management education. The Industry-Institution Partnership and interaction with the industry needs to be further strengthened. The institutions may organize an education fest, campus programmes more frequently. There is an urgent need to mould the students with our ancient tradition of management and also with modern technical, technological skills through mentoring. The students need to be identified with their competitive and communicative skills and suitable training to be given to them to make employable and acceptable in the industry and service sector.