SRINAGAR: A two-day ‘Assessors Orientation Programme’ organized by the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) and co-hosted by Directorate of Colleges, Higher Education Department, commenced at Government College for Women, M A Road with Principal Secretary Education, Alok Kumar, formally inaugurating the event.
Speaking on the occasion, Principal Secretary expressed hope that the orientation programme would prove beneficial for all the stakeholders and help in enhancing the quality of education. He said the assessment and accreditation exercise conducted by NAAC ensures that the higher educational institutions comply with the standards of quality in terms of teaching-learning processes, research, infrastructure, and student services among other parameters.
The orientation programme is being attended by Principals of various colleges from Kashmir as well as the Jammu division.
Members of the visiting NAAC expert team included Dr. G P Upadhaya, Dr. Neelesh Pandey, Dr. S Srikant Swamy, Dr. P Siva Kumar, and H V Chandrashekar.
On the occasion, Principal Secretary launched and inaugurated several initiatives of the host college. He launched the e-journal ‘Dossier of Muses’ (International Journal of Literacy Studies) and released a print edition of the college magazine ‘The Pamposh’.
On the sidelines of the event, Alok Kumar also inaugurated the ‘Centre for Research and Innovation’ a multi-disciplinary Science research laboratory.
He inaugurated a multi-disciplinary research lab in Social Sciences, a water management lab, and a Culture lab.
Principal Secretary inaugurated an exhibition held under the ‘Empowerment and Entrepreneurship Development Programme’ to showcase the skill and innovation efforts of college students.
Earlier in his special address, Cabinet Secretary, Government of Sikkim, Dr. G.P Upadhaya, said one of the major concerns in the higher education sector has been the lack of requisite skill sets among the educated youth which renders them unemployable. He said the National Education Policy (NEP-2020) aims to address this issue in a holistic manner.
Adviser NAAC, Dr. B S Ponmudiraj, said NAAC has to consider multiple factors during the assessment and accreditation and referred to the challenges inherent in the exercise. He referred to the legal challenges handled by NAAC while stressing on the important role played by the assessors.
Regarding the significance of NAAC, Director of Colleges, Professor Yasmeen Ashai referred to the need to align the assessment and accreditation process with NEP-2020.
“NAAC is playing a crucial role in making quality the defining element of higher education in India. It has encouraged self-evaluation, accountability, autonomy, and innovations in higher education,” she said.
In her welcome address, the Principal of the host college, Professor Ruhi Jan Kanth said, “NAAC has encouraged self-evaluation, accountability, autonomy, and innovations in higher education.” She also referred to the initiatives taken by the institution for creating robust research and skill development ecosystem in line with NEP 2020.
