The National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) has introduced a binary accreditation system for evaluating Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) across the country.
Under this system, NAAC will classify HEIs as either “accredited” or “not accredited,” departing from the previous practice of assigning grades based on assessments.
Following the NAAC executive council meeting held on Saturday, it was decided to implement these reforms in two stages. The binary accreditation system, indicating either accreditation or non-accreditation, will be in effect for the next four months. Subsequently, the Maturity-Based Graded Accreditation (levels 1 to 5) will be rolled out by December.
Within the Maturity-Based Graded Accreditation framework, accredited institutions will be assigned levels from one to five, motivating them to strive for the highest level.
A senior Ministry of Education (MoE) official stated, “The adoption of Binary Accreditation (accredited or not accredited) instead of grades aims to encourage all institutions to participate in the accreditation process, fostering a culture of quality in higher education.”
He added, “This binary accreditation approach aligns with best practices observed in many leading countries worldwide.”
Maturity-Based Graded Accreditation System
The second phase of the reform will be implemented by December. Under the Maturity-Based Graded Accreditation (MBGA) system, institutions will be incentivized to reach the pinnacle at level 5, denoting “Institutions of Global Excellence for Multi-Disciplinary Research and Education.”
The level-grading system is designed to empower Indian institutions to enhance their educational offerings, improve quality, and elevate their standards to be on par with globally acclaimed institutions.
