Alarmed at the poor quality of higher education, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has given the nod for making the assessment of colleges and universities mandatory. The Union HRD Ministry has been asked to work out the modalities.

The decision comes ten days after the HRD Ministry painted a grim picture of higher education, with a National Accreditation & Assessment Council (NAAC) survey, reported in The Sunday Express, finding that 90 per cent of colleges and 68 per cent of universities were of medium to poor quality. The HRD Ministry had pitched for a Rs 77,779 crore allotment for improving the higher education sector in the 11th Five Year Plan period.

Sources said that, perturbed by the findings, the Prime Minister took note of the need for common assessment and accreditation by a reputed agency. This will be one of the pre-conditions for granting the funds.

While the Prime Minister has not specifically asked the NAAC — which at present grades higher educational institutions — to carry out the assessments, the HRD ministry must select the agency and work out the modalities.

NAAC, set up in 1994, had recently made its methodology more stringent. The procedure involves self-appraisal, peer review, and NAAC inspections for accreditation and grading. Institutions are assessed on curriculum, teaching, research and consultancy, student support, management and innovative practices.