NAAC fires 900 assessors amid bribery allegations

NEW DELHI: In a dramatic shake-up, the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) has fired around 900 assessors who were tasked with grading higher education institutions in the country. This comes after allegations of grading irregularities and a recent bribery case against NAAC inspection officials.

The large-scale removal, carried out over the past year, saw a significant acceleration in recent months. Around 400 assessors were dismissed following the February 1 arrest of 10 individuals in Andhra Pradesh for allegedly manipulating NAAC ratings in exchange for bribes. Among those arrested were six NAAC inspection committee members and officials of the Koneru Lakshmaiah Education Foundation.

NAAC assessors, who are academicians constituting peer teams to assess institutions, were withdrawn for various reasons. Some were nonfunctional or continuously refused visits, while others were discovered to have poorly prepared assessment reports. In some instances, institutions were given high marks without proper rationale, creating doubts about the integrity of the accreditation process.

Investigations were initiated in mid-2023 when a sudden spike in A++ ratings prompted a review. Authorities reviewed institutions that had witnessed sudden improvements in grading in successive cycles. In instances where an institution improved two or more grades or achieved an A++ in its initial cycle, reassessments were carried out. Consequently, almost half of the 400 institutions being reviewed experienced a downgrade in their accreditation.

In a bid to promote transparency, NAAC will replace on-site visits with online evaluations for colleges and will introduce a hybrid evaluation system for universities in March. Besides, assessors and institutions will only be told of their evaluation on the evaluation day, cutting down the chance of undue influence.