Page 25 - Slide 1

The Importance of Accreditation Literacy

After high school or graduation, we as students or parents often face a dilemma while
choosing an institute for higher studies. While choices are galore, only a handful of these
institutions offer quality education along with the desired take aways such as training and
placement. More maddening is the fact that all institutions claim superiority and some even go
to the extent of alleging spurious and misleading information. In this scenario, the mandatory
accreditation process has the capability to play a critical role in aiding the choice of the best
possible place to study.

Although some students and parents may be aware of the importance and process of
accreditation, most of us are unaware of the massive volume of information that it provides.
Accreditation is a level of quality control. As a part of the accreditation process, institutions
and universities need to mandatorily publish an annual status report called the Annual Quality
Assurance Report (AQAR). This AQAR is posted on the institution’s website and is accessible
to all. The AQAR incorporates all academic and financial information about the institute or
University including but not limited to its curricular planning and implementation, teaching,
evaluation systems, evaluation records, faculty profiles, student performance, research
performance, extension activities of the institute, its collaborations with other eminent
institutions or universities, its current infrastructure details and its plans for future growth in
infrastructure. It also features information on the facilities provided for cultural activities,
sports and other activities, the expenditure of the institute under classified heads, details on
books, computers and other resources provided to the students, capacity building and skill
enhancement initiatives taken by the institute for its students, detailed information about
placement and higher studies (clearly specifying the organizations where students were placed
and the package offered, or the institute in which the student has been admitted for higher
education), and a lot more of similarly important information.

Dr. Sanchita Ghosh Chowdhury
Associate Professor & HOD,
Department of Economics