To the outside world, the Pachaiyappa’s College in Chennai is an old government-aided institution which has deteriorated beyond redemption, plagued as it was by years of maladministration and unruly behaviour of a section of students.
However, in what could put the college, which has produced stalwarts like late Chief Minister C N Annadurai and DMK co-founder EVK Sampath, back on track, the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) has awarded it the highest ‘A’ grade during a reaccreditation exercise. Previously, the institution was given only the ‘B++’ rating.
The Pachaiyappa’s is among 15 colleges in Tamil Nadu which have been awarded the ‘A’ grade by the NAAC in the latest accreditation and reaccreditation exercise involving 126 colleges in the country. Of these, four institutions were being accredited for the first time.
While 30 colleges in the state have secured the ‘B’ grade (24 for first time), one institution — Venkatesvara College of Education in Pudukottai, was given the ‘C’ grade as per the results of the NAAC peer team reviews declared a week ago. Incidentally, five of the ‘A’ grade colleges are located in Coimbatore. This includes the Government Arts College.
Pachaiyappa’s College Principal P Gajivaradhan said he was initially reluctant to apply for the reaccreditation without improving infrastructure on the campus. “But former Chief Election Commissioner T N Seshan, our interim administrator appointed by the High Court, asked us to face the NAAC peer team based on our academic credentials. Though we have a problem in undergraduate education, all our 12 postgraduate departments are research departments,” Gajivaradhan said.