BENGALURU: The National Assessment & Accreditation Council's (NAAC) executive committee has debarred all seven members from assessment or any activities of NAAC “with immediate effect” following the CBI probe in the bribery case of Koneru Lakshmaiah Educational Foundation (KLEF) in Guntur, Andhra Pradesh.
In a press statement issued on Saturday, NAAC said that it would review all recent assessment visits conducted by these seven members to higher education institutions (HEIs), whose accreditation grading results are not yet declared. Additionally, it has decided to cancel KLEF’s accreditation process and bar it from applying for accreditation for the next five years.
The CBI arrested three KLEF officials over allegations that they attempted to bribe NAAC’s peer review team members to secure an A++ accreditation rating.
NAAC is responsible for evaluating the quality of education and infrastructure in universities and colleges. Institutions are graded on a cumulative grade point average (CGPA) from 1.51 to 4.00, with ratings ranging from ‘A++’ to ‘C.’ Those without accreditation are graded ‘D.’
Following this case, NAAC has proposed launching the Basic (Binary) Accreditation in April or May 2025, followed by Maturity-based Graded Levels (MBGL). Special committees are currently working on the framework and methodology for MBGL.
According to the NAAC statement, the new frameworks will incorporate advanced IT-based features to ensure objectivity in assessments and prevent unfair practices.
For HEIs that have already applied for accreditation (Cycle 1) or for upgrading their rankings (Cycle 2 or above), NAAC’s EC has made several decisions. Institutions in Cycle 1 will have the option to choose basic accreditation and any previously paid fees may be adjusted against future applications. Those in cycle 2 and above can retain their current grade until the new basic accreditation and MBGL frameworks are introduced. Once launched, they can select either option based on their preparedness.
If institutions in these categories wish to proceed with assessments under the existing Revised Accreditation Framework (RAF), NAAC has decided that peer team evaluations will be conducted online for colleges and in a hybrid format (both online and physical) for universities. Detailed procedures and standard operating protocols (SoPs) for these online and hybrid visits will be shared with HEIs soon.