Results of NAAC team visit in mid-January

The National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) will assign a grade to the University of Pune (UoP) in the second week of January. Its chairman, SP Thyagarajan, on Thursday said their report would be submitted to the University Grants Commission (UGC) and the result would be out on the NAAC website by the second week of January.

“The assessment report is ready and we have shared it with vice chancellor Raghunath Shevgaonkar. However, the grading has been done separately and has not been revealed,” said Thyagarajan
to media persons. He said the VC has been given time to make remarks, if any, and substantiate them.

Thyagarajan, who appeared happy with his stay in the city, said UoP is among the top universities in the country and ranked 6th. Substantial research is being conducted at the university.

Refuting the claim that the evaluation process is a cosmetic exercise as the NAAC visits the educational institutes once in five years, he said, “The internal quality assessment system (IQAS) and external quality assessment system (EQAS) are expected for the continuous assessment
of universities and they shouldn’t exist for namesake.”

The IQAS is expected to conduct the exercise every year, while the EQAS should be done every three years. These systems are expected to submit reports to the NAAC.

“The NAAC considers their reports, besides the other parameters while assessing a university. Over the years, the NAAC has evolved and brought in more objectivism into the process,” he said.

“There are regional imbalances in terms of funding, staff patterns and academics. While assessing the institutions, we consider these factors. There is stringent training for assessors, who follow a uniform methodology,” he added.