National Board of Accreditation to ensure easy student mobility abroad

Soon, Indian students will have no trouble in getting a job in the UK or US. They will also be able to join an academic course abroad after completing a part of the programme in India.

The National Board of Accreditation (NBA) is planning to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Washington Accord, an association of 13 leading nations that accredits institutes in those countries and will also recognise the accreditation by their counterparts in the accord.

NBA, an autonomous body which accredits programmes offered by institutes in India, is already a provisional member of the accord.

If India becomes a part of the accord, the mobility of Indian students to the 13 nations will improve.

Their degrees will not only be recognised for further studies but also for placements.

The accord has leading nations, including Singapore, the UK, the USA, Australia, Canada, Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong China, Ireland, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand and South Africa, working together to advance benchmarking and mobility in engineering.

According to Dinesh Paliwal, NBA’s member secretary, “We are trying to better our standards to match theirs. The MoU will ensure free flow of students. Once NBA becomes part of the accord, students from engineering programmes will benefit the most.”

He added that Indian students planning to go abroad have to at present prove their degrees to the authorities concerned. “An international recognition is needed to put our students at par with their counterparts in developed nations,” he said.