NBA accreditation must for institutions running technical courses

Every higher educational institution running technical courses must get NBA accreditation either after six years or after its two batches of students pass out, HRD minister said Wednesday.

Human Resource Development Minister Smriti Irani said the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) only gives institutional accreditation while the National Board of Accreditation (NBA) gives accreditation to technical programmes.

"AICTE (All India Council for Technical Education) has notified regulations in January 2014 on the lines of the University Grants Commission (UGC) regulations 2012, every higher educational institution, which has completed six years of existence or two batches having passed out, whichever is earlier, is to apply within six months from the date of coming into force the accreditation from the agency," Irani said in a written reply in the Lok Sabha.

The NBA is already conducting accreditation of technical programmes being run by institutions.

"The UGC and AICTE Regulation recognise NBA as an "assessment and accreditation agency" for the purpose of undertaking accreditation," added Irani.

According to the minister, the process of accreditation has been laid down for achieving advancing academic quality, enabling students and other stakeholders to make informed choices with regard to institutions.

"The accreditation would also facilitate institutions to augment quality, by bench-marking uniform reference points pertaining to academic standards, to acquire international recognition, cross-border and trans-national collaborations," she said.