Comprehensive academic audit not bad idea: Experts

While the idea of a comprehensive academic audit is not bad, it needs to be implemented carefully to ensure that it becomes effective, experts said.

Ashok Wadia, Principal, Jai Hind college of Arts, Science and Commerce, said that colleges need to have the right approach towards the move. "Colleges should be open to criticisms on what they lack. They should understand the problem areas and sincerely work towards bettering themselves, one step at a time. Each college needs to be given a specific plan on what needs to be done to address the existing issues, added Wadia.

Many feared that the audits would remain a mere paper-driven exercise, yielding very little concrete results. "The university should first introspect on where it is going wrong. Even today, teachers across MU-affiliated technical institutes are not paid on time. Despite the AICTE pointing out lacunae in several inspections, no action has been taken against erring colleges for years together," said Vaibhav Narawade, a senate member at the university. "Mere audits won't be of any use if no action is taken," he added.

A former principal of a leading college said the biggest challenge in the process is the high number of affiliated institutes. "Due to the sheer number of colleges, the process becomes time taking and a little difficult to implement," added the principal.