22 years on, UPRTOU close to bagging NAAC grading : Education News

Twenty-two after it was set up, Uttar Pradesh Rajarshi Tandon Open University (UPRTOU)—the only state open varsity of UP—is now close to getting its first ever grading from National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC).

Bengaluru headquartered NAAC is the autonomous institution of University Grants Commission (UGC) that assesses and accredits higher educational institutions of the country. “The achievement would make UPRTOU just the third open university of the country after Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), New Delhi, and Netaji Subhas Open University, West Bengal to get a NAAC accreditation,” said the university officials in the know about the development.

“With all other formalities now complete, the NAAC team is set to arrive on a three-day physical inspection and assessment visit to UPRTOU campus in Phaphamau on December 15,” they added. Vice chancellor of UPRTOU prof Seema Singh said on December 15, the NAAC peer team will reach for on-site inspection. The team will undertake its inspection, interaction and assessment in the university for three days between December 15 and December 17. After the visit, the NAAC team will submit its report to NAAC which would then award the final grading to the university, she added.

Earlier, NAAC grading was not necessary for open universities of the country. However, after the UGC (Open and Distance Learning) Regulations-2017, which came into effect in April 2019, every open university has to apply for this vital grading within one year. The time duration for applying for the same was, however, extended because of the outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic.

This led to UPRTOU kick-starting the process for bagging a NAAC grading. The process involves registration of the higher educational institutions (HEIs) on the NAAC official website, compilation of the institutional data and information for initial Quality Assessment (IIQA) and submission of the self-study report (SSR) after the acceptance of IIQA (If it is rejected, the educational institutions get two more attempts to resume the process within one year) followed by data validation and verification process student satisfaction survey and NAAC peer team visit in the institution for further verification. This finally leads to final grades being assigned to the institution.