Assessment, Accreditation and Ranking Methods for Higher Education Institutes in India: Current Findings and Future Challenges

The difficulties faced by the higher education institutions in the process of accreditation and rankings are presented in this chapter with reference to the Indian context. The performance of higher education in India is critically examined in the context of global standards. The main impediments are observed through various committee reports, and possible suggestions are discussed. The initiatives from the Government of India are noted in this chapter. It is observed that the second and third rated institutes are suffering most in the maintenance of quality benchmarks. It is found that the documentation of all academic activities in the digital form is not properly done. Need-based courses and interdisciplinary programs that cater to the requirements of the local and regional community are important for the creation of employment opportunities. Inadequate financial support and a large number of teaching vacancies are the major concern for the institutes in maintaining global standards. Assessment and Accreditation of Institutions are compulsory for all the institutions, and institutes are encouraged to participate in the National Institute Ranking Framework (NIRF) rankings. It is suggested to take into account the second-grade institutes' ideas and practices when they are available with a time stamp.

The relevance of student feedback to the quality of higher education institutes is highlighted in this chapter. Different student feedback formats and processes are reviewed. The importance of this process in enhancing the academic performance of the colleges is discussed in the Indian context. The popular feedback surveys are studied and their merits and drawbacks are mentioned. Student feedback data in electronic format is collected from a college in Andhra Pradesh, India, for 2019. The data is analyzed in light of the academic performance of the college. The study tries to find out whether the outcome of student feedback (SFB) provides the correct opinion of the students about the teaching-learning process of the higher education institutes (HEI). Results show that students have not given the true picture of teachinglearning of the institute. Possible reasons are discussed and suggestions are mentioned to make the SFB a relevant process in improving the academic grade and rank of HEI.

National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) has strived hard to safeguard and improve the academic standards and quality of higher education in India since 1995. In spite of 25 years of continuous monitoring and assessing the quality of education of HEI’s and accreditation, the outcome is not encouraging with respect to the number of great institutions. This is high time that the gap is analyzed, and the lacunae between the assessment process by NAAC and the preparedness of institutions for assessment is identified. Based on the feedback received by NAAC over a long period, many changes have been made from time to time in the process of assessment. In July 2017, NAAC drastically revised the process for the HEIs. The new process represents an explicit paradigm shift, making it ICT enabled, objective, scalable and robust. Again very recently, on 17/12/2019, they have modified and published manuals for HEI’s and reduced the number of metrics, both qualitative and quantitative. Though the new methodology is user friendly, an invisible lacuna has been observed that is evident from results. Many colleges which got A grade in the previous assessment have got B++ or B+ in this new methodology. In this scenario, an attempt is made to acquaint the stakeholders of the institutions regarding the overall A & A, in general, with a special emphasis on quantitative metrics, both essential and optional in particular. It also discusses in depth the basic problems facing the institution's preparedness.

In India, the quality and performance of its higher education institutes are continuously monitored by the University Grants Commission, the National Assessment and Accreditation Council, and the national institutional ranking framework. The universities are assessed and accredited based on seven criteria that carry 1000 marks. Out of the seven criteria, student support and progression have a 14% weightage for universities and autonomous colleges; for affiliated colleges, this is 10%, carrying 100 marks. This study considers the colleges in the Srikakulam district of Andhra Pradesh, where only one government college and two private colleges are accredited with an ‘A’ grade by the national assessment and accreditation council. The remaining institutes are yet to catch up to the quality benchmark and good grades. To achieve this, it is essential for all such institutes to improve their student support and progression performance. This chapter analyses the performance of such institutes and offers suggestions to improve their performance in the assessment process.

The economic growth of any country depends on its natural resources, human intellectual capital, progress in science and technology, and politically stable governments. Improper management of human and natural resources may be one of the key reasons for the underdevelopment. The financial deficit of a country precludes the offering of viable indemnity to the skill-oriented people, which causes brain drain. The brain drain theory is open-ended in developing countries. All the developed countries are utilizing the human intellectual resources of developing and underdeveloped countries. The human development index is low for the countries where human resource management is below par. Related statistics also indicate that low investment in higher education leads to low development in all aspects. All the developed countries spend a higher percentage of their gross domestic product on higher education. The quality and quantity of higher education institutions are the primary factors for development. Doctoral degree holders’ salaries of different countries and their respective gross domestic products have been compared and analyzed in the light of the economic development in these countries. The structural changes that are required in the higher educational institutions for the holistic development of a country have also been suggested.

The Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs) are to be transformed from paper-based hard copies to E-mode soft copies for data preparation, maintenance, and submission to any ranking agency. In this context, the digital platform is to be created for the distribution of information. Apart from that, government, aided, and private institutions have been facing many issues to transform the knowledge as per the stakeholder needs in terms of assessment criteria like curricular aspects, teachinglearning, and evaluation. Artificial intelligence (AI) is a buzzword in the higher education sector, as it is considered necessary to change the entire world’s face, taking steps towards digitization. Smartphone usage by the student and teacher community is rapidly growing in all parts of the world. This research focuses on virtual connectivity through smart devices for better, effective results to beat the world competition. The extensive use of the smartphone for the right cause can help us in the right ways, such as in IPR notifications and preparatory documents for research publications in reputed journals and conferences, innovations through patent filing, and book publications. This proposed framework indicates how long and in what way students can equip themselves with the required skills. The present system recommends the overall evaluation category as exceptional, good, above average, or below average with parameters such as intellectual ability, maturity, perseverance, oral and written communication, analytical ability, imagination and creative ability to work with others, potential as a researcher, and self-confidence. Many semi-urban, rural, and agency teachers and students to date struggle due to not having the proper infrastructure or facilities for their education. Where there is a shortage of amenities such as teaching, library, and sports, AI technology can be handy. There is a huge amount of data being generated from different institutions and handling this amount of data using the RDBMS is very difficult. This is where big data comes into the picture. Big data is one of the key pillars of global digitization. By using big data, we can improve education quality and coordination and reduce maintenance costs. Predictive analytics and statistical tools and techniques can be used to improve student learning course outcomes.

Human beings are one of the earth’s creations that looks around their problems and think about their responsibility to find a solution and take action accordingly. In nature, every creature except human beings is playing its role to make the world beautiful. You will know the difference if you imagine the earth with and without human beings. As per the world economic forum 2018 report, no less than 54% of all employees will require significant improvement in skills by 2022. By observing our present situations and demands, we can predict that this is the time to prove the worth of our existence in nature by making the world beautiful. The education system is the only possible solution that makes the world beautiful by enabling people to have a good mindset. This study is used to assess the challenges and solutions for reshaping the future of education. Innate abilities, natural ways of learning, inner programming, and new ways of learning are used to reshape the future of education according to the psychological aspect of a human being and student needs. To discover our talents, we need to follow a framework/process which gives us the freedom to blossom. The need of the hour is to design a new framework for reshaping the future of education. In the future, we, as people of the nation, have the responsibility to create an environment in which each student could naturally study for recreation.

In the present-day world, possessing a set of skills is the most important thing to get a suitable job. A set of basic rules that are acquired through everyday work experience is termed professional life skills. These skills enable people to deal with different issues, tasks and challenges effectively, which one faces daily. One needs them to survive in the world for livelihood. In short, any skill which is used to deal with problems in life can be considered a life skill. Life skills are not only essential but also important as these bring success and wealth in the life of an individual. In this 21st century, all these skills are essential to keep individuals ahead of others in this competitive world. Those skills are useful not only for a healthy society but also for successful individuals. Working in teams, communication, problem-solving, initiative and enterprise, planning and organization, self-awareness, positive attitude, and technology skill are also considered professional life skills. The skill of adaptability is crucial for survival and enables humans to transform themselves to fit into the environment. Problem-solving is a primary skill, which can contribute to one’s professional success.

Knowledge and its application by the workforce is a critical factor for sustainable and economic developments. In order to gain competitive advantages, it is important for an organization to rely on manpower that has relevant skills and competencies to deliver expected results within stipulated time-frames and available resources. Higher Education (HE) plays a vital role in developing such competencies and moving industry-ready talent into a human resource. Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is a key enabler for functional efforts in the context, including quality assurance and enhancement in higher education. ICT is being used for improving the quality of education all over the world due to its numerous advantages. Our study is focused on unearthing the vital role of ICT for achieving excellence in higher education institutions (HEIs) using standards/criteria of various accreditation and ranking bodies. A survey was conducted using a Likert scale-based questionnaire including an open-ended question related to usage and importance of ICT for improving the quality of higher education. The results show that leveraging ICT can help higher education institutions (HEIs) to enhance overall quality through benchmarking institutional data, implementation and monitoring of best practices in pursuit of excellence.

Today, higher education is no more constrained by geographical boundaries. Innovative forms of translocation and transnational education have become a possibility. In India, higher education reforms are emerging in isolated niches in higher education institutions. Globalization has been attracting considerable attention from higher education institutions both in government and private sectors and discussed at national seminars and conferences. The main aim of this study was to find the impact of globalization on higher education. The data is collected from the faculty members of Public and Private Universities and comparative analysis has been done between these two groups. Perceptive score differences were observed between the teaching faculty of GITAM university and Andhra University on the impact of globalization on higher education. Significant differences were found in innovations, quality measures, external exposure, and policy measures. It is also observed that the services of GITAM University are more satisfactory than Andhra University. Whereas the faculty members of Andhra University felt more satisfaction than GITAM University in faculty-related quality measures, external exposure, and policy matters.

Today the concept of economic development plays a vital role in worldwide nations. The development of any economy mainly depends upon the availability and utilisation of Technology, Capital Accumulation, Natural and Human Resources. Besides other factors, human resources are particularly important for economic development. Hence the government should focus on factors like quality education (both primary & higher education), proper training, skills and health care for human resource development. In this context, this paper tried to analyze the importance of higher education in economic development, the present scenario and growth of higher education institutions in India, the problems that the higher education institutions are facing today at the college and university level, the challenges that are to be addressed and the prospects of higher education in India. The methodology used in the paper is mainly qualitative in nature, and secondary sources like, Economic Survey, AISHE reports are being used to acquire sufficient data to analyze the situation of higher education in India.

Education is the most powerful weapon to change the social, economic, and cultural, backwardness. Particularly higher education with research and development drives the country towards a good economic position in all aspects. India occupies the second position regarding the highest populated countries in the world. At the same time, India also enjoys the advantage of demographic dividend occupying the top place with respect to the youth population. Keeping pace with the global developments, if effective measures are implemented in the field of education, India’s manpower can be transformed into quality human resources. As a developing country, India has been prioritizing universalization of education, resulting in its horizontal growth. Now India should also focus on vertical growth with skill-oriented education especially at higher levels. India is the second-highest population country but first place in the younger (youth) generation. This paper mainly focuses on the overall performance of the higher education system in India. It also identifies required solutions and plans to be used for the improvement of quality in higher education in India.

The vision and aims of higher education in India are grand- to tap the inviolate demographic resources of the country and equip them with enough opportunities so as to ensure nation-building and development. Ever since the country’s independence, all the policies and programs aimed at the redemption of higher education of India have been aiming at this particular issue. This sector has always provided innumerable opportunities for national development but is also marred with a lot of challenges and practical difficulties that delay the progress. Education is not only a tool for social progress, but also the means to achieve political and economic freedom. Though there are a plethora of policies which envisage a proper structure and progress for higher development, inadequate stress on the quality of education has been one of the biggest issues concerning the sector. This research paper discusses the various challenges and issues faced by higher education in India and the way ahead.

A great deal has been spoken and debated about the characteristics of effective teaching and learning at college or universities. Much more focus has been paid to attributes of a good teacher than to the leaner today. Though there are many conferences and seminars deliberating on this important issue which affected thousands of learners across the globe in terms of diversity, need and adequacy, yet it is still less. Many approaches like cooperative learning, self directed learning, student centric learning and teacher’s style have to be worked upon in depth to offer the advantage to the learner. It is undoubtedly a complicated matter, there is no indication of one best way to demand holistic understanding of the context and the learner’s needs and challenges.

Quality is highly required in the present teaching and learning process besides quantity. Nobody is expected to get contentment without quality in our life or career. Innovation is given utmost importance in higher education in the present global world. National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) was established to fulfill all these aspects in higher educational institutions. It has stipulated certain procedures for assessing and preparing students as well as teachers to make them competent enough to face the challenges in the present day global scenario. The teachers need to update their knowledge and use new methods effectively in the classroom sessions to give a new shape to the students. We have to carry this responsibility until we get retirement. For many decades, we followed the traditional method of using textbooks for the purpose of instruction. However, the emergence and implementation of teaching effectiveness assessment techniques revealed that most of the students do not equip themselves with course content up to the expected level. The Majority of intellectuals focus on new methods for teaching and learning processes. Our teaching or learning methods should be intelligible. The objective of this chapter is to mention the importance of innovative teaching and learning methods and study the understanding of changes by teachers and also the need for refresher courses for teachers at regular intervals. A teacher may be a facilitator in the present teaching and learning scenario. The new methods must certainly be useful to both the students and the teachers to do research and also develop creativity. The teaching fraternity may agree with the new methods in the teaching and learning process.