TN engineering colleges asked to conduct academic audits

CHENNAI: Director of the centre for academic studies of Anna University directed affiliated engineering colleges to conduct an academic audit to ensure students were properly doing all internal assessments, industrial internships, and laboratory assignments. The audit, which aims to ensure the quality of teaching in the institutions, will also include records of pupils’ attendance. 

According to a letter issued by the university to the director of centre for affiliation of institutions, the academic audit should be conducted for every course taught during each semester. The colleges are required to maintain records of the internal assessment results of each student, and document projects and industrial internships.

According to officials, auditing will help improve the quality of education in colleges. “The academic audit report will provide a complete overview of the academic activities going on in the college. If any college is showing leniency in laboratory assignments or marking of the internal assessments, we can identify it,” said an Anna University official.   

To ensure the audit is carried out in a transparent manner, the university directed heads of the institutions to form specific committees, with an external course expert as one of the members. This expert can be from a reputed technical institution, located the college.

The varsity has also warned the colleges that the academic audit of current and previous semesters will be verified, during the inspection carried out for granting affiliation. The colleges need to keep all the reports prepared. Even the colleges granted permanent affiliation by the university will have to conduct the academic audit, said the varsity officials. 

However, teachers in private engineering colleges are worried as this audit report might add to their burden. “The colleges will ask the respective department teachers to prepare the audit report and it will be reviewed by an external. We are already getting a meagre pay and now we have to do this additional file work,” said KM Karthik, coordinator of All India Private Colleges Employees Union (AIPCEU). 

‘Audit will add to burden’
Teachers in private colleges are worried over the audit. “We get meagre pay and now we have this additional work,” said KM Karthik,  AIPCEU coordinator