Akhilesh writes to Smriti Irani seeking NAAC regional chapter

NAAC would help in evaluation of educational institutes in UP for improving their standards

Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav has written to union HRD minister Smriti Irani seeking a regional chapter of the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) in the state without delay.

NAAC would help in the evaluation of educational institutes in UP for improving their quality standards.

University Grants Commission (UGC) has set up NAAC for assessment and evaluation of quality in the higher education sector.

In his letter, Yadav lamented that evaluation of educational institutions in UP had been rather tardy as NAAC headquarters was based in Bengaluru. Hence, it was not possible to ensure adherence by the institutions to the national level education standards laid down by NAAC.

The CM underlined that getting higher education institutes evaluated by NAAC was a priority for the state government.

Yadav mentioned keeping pace with incremental progress and expansion in the higher education sector, a large number of institutions were being set up in UP. At present, there are 4,250 government/non-government/financially aided and private higher education institutions.

However, so far only 380 (3 state universities, 29 government degree colleges, 105 non-government-aided degree colleges and 243 self-financed) educational institutes had been evaluated by NAAC.

Several others are still under consideration of NAAC and a regional chapter would help speed up the process.