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Unit 32: UGC-NAAC as an Apex Body in Educational Planning and Management

(1986) that laid special emphasis on upholding the quality of higher education in India. In spite of Notes
the built-in regulatory mechanisms that aim to ensure satisfactory levels of quality in the functioning
of higher education institutions, there have been criticisms that the country has permitted the
mushrooming of institutions of higher education with fancy programmes and substandard facilities
and consequent dilution of standards. To address the issue of deterioration in quality, the National
Policy on Education (1986) and the Plan of Action (POA-1992) that spelt out the strategic plans for
the policies, advocated the establishment of an independent national accreditation body.
Consequently, the NAAC was established in 1994 with its headquarters at Bangalore.

32.1 Structure of UGC NAAC
The NAAC functions through its General Council (GC) and Executive Committee (EC) where
educational administrators, policy makers and senior academicians from a cross section of the system
of higher education are represented. The Chairperson of the UGC is the President of the GC of the
NAAC; the Chairperson of the EC is an eminent academician in the area of relevance to the NAAC.
The Director of the NAAC is its academic and administrative head, and is the member-secretary of
both the GC and EC. The NAAC also has many advisory and consultative committees to guide its
practices, in addition to the statutory bodies that steer its policies. The NAAC has a core staff and
consultants to support its activities. It also receives assistance from a large number of external
resource persons from across the country who are not full time staff of the NAAC.

The system of higher education in India has expanded rapidly during the last fifty
years.

32.2 Aims of UGC NAAC

The activities and future plans of the NAAC are guided by its vision and mission that focus on
making quality assurance an integral part of the functioning of higher education institutions. The
vision of the NAAC is : To make quality the defining element of higher education in India through
a combination of self and external quality evaluation, promotion and sustenance initiatives. The
mission statements of the NAAC aim at translating the NAACs vision into reality, defining the
following, key tasks of the organisation : To arrange for periodic assessment and accreditation of
institutions of higher education or units thereof, or specific academic programmes or projects; To
stimulate the academic environment for promotion of quality of teaching-learning and research in
higher education institutions; To encourage self evaluation, accountability, autonomy and innovations
in higher education; To undertake quality-related research studies, consultancy and training
programmes, and To collaborate with other stakeholders of higher education for quality evaluation,
promotion and sustenance. Guided by its vision and striving to achieve its mission, the NAAC primarily
assesses the quality of institutions of higher education that volunteer for the process, through an
internationally accepted methodology, provided they are eligible to be assessed by the NAAC.
32.3 Eligibility for the Assessment by NAAC

Institutions that wish to be assessed have to record their intention and provide general information
about the institution to the NAAC. The format for the letter of intention and the general information
required are given in Annexure I and II. On receiving the letter of intention, the NAAC checks the
eligibility of the institution. The Executive Committee of the NAAC has resolved as under regarding
the eligibility criteria : Any institution of higher education imparting instruction at degree level and
above shall be eligible for assessment by the NAAC, provided the institution works under the

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