Bengaluru(Press Release): The National Education Policy, 2020 (NEP-2020), has proposed the National Accreditation Council (NAC) as a meta-accrediting body. The University Grants Commission (UGC) has already appointed a committee to bring synergy between NAAC, the National Board of Accreditation (NBA), and the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) to propose a common framework and a road map for NAC.
The NEP-2020 envisages a stage-wise mechanism for granting graded autonomy to colleges and in the long run, accreditation will become a binary process. Accreditation of institutions will be based primarily on basic norms, public self-disclosure, good governance, and outcomes, and it will be carried out by an independent ecosystem of accrediting institutions, supervised and overseen by NAC. The license to function as an accreditor shall also be awarded by NAC to an appropriate number of institutions. In the short term, a robust system of graded accreditation needs to be established with specific benchmarks for all HEIs to achieve set levels of quality, self-governance, and autonomy. This will lead to several reforms in the Assessment and Accreditation (A&A) system. The recently released NAAC White Paper has proposed a road map in this direction.
Dr Bhushan Patwardhan, Chairman of the Executive Committee, NAAC has stated that it is necessary to generate more awareness about the proposed reforms, to assert the importance of accreditation, and ensure improvement of educational quality. He has emphasized that more HEIs should be encouraged to come forward for accreditation. The NAAC has taken steps to increase the number of accredited HEIs. Dr S.C. Sharma, Director NAAC, stated, “Today on the day auspicious of Vijaya Dashami, theNAAC has decided to establish a Handholding and Mentoring Cell (HMC) to encourage more HEIs to come forward for the A&A process.”
The NAAC has already issued a cautionary note warning that some agencies or consultancy firms are approaching HEIs with proposals to help in getting them accreditation and simultaneously making various commitments and promises.
The Council has not authorized any agents or consultants for accreditation work. The NAAC expects that an institution must itself complete the preparation for accreditation and not try to outsource it. HEIs are advised to avoid entertaining such unauthorized agents. Dr Patwardhan has urgently appealed that HEIs should desist from associating with such dubiousagents/consultancy services. They should take advantage of the authentic services provided by the NAAC-HMC initiative.
NAAC-HMC is expected toguideHEIs across the geographical area,especially from underserved remote areas. Those HEIs completing at least two cycles of accreditation with consistently high grades (Mentor HEIs) may volunteer and participate in this initiative.Dr Sharma has appealed to and invited HEIs, especially non-accredited ones (Mentee HEIs) who need guidance and help, to register themselves by submitting an application in the prescribed format available on the NAAC website.
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Ukrainian president welcomes Russian overtures, but says ceasefire must come before peace talks
Kyiv, May 11 (AP): Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Sunday welcomed Russia's offer for direct peace talks, but insisted there must be a full, temporary ceasefire in place before negotiations can start.
Zelenskyy, writing on X, called Russian President Vladimir Putin's counter-offer to start talks without a ceasefire a “positive sign”, and said “the entire world has been waiting for this for a very long time".
He added, however, that "the very first step in truly ending any war is a ceasefire”.
Meanwhile, Russia resumed mass drone attacks in Ukraine early on Sunday, after its self-declared 3-day pause expired.
Russia launched 108 attack drones and simulator drones from six different directions, Ukraine's Air Force said on Sunday. It said 60 drones were shot down and another 41 simulator drones failed to reach targets due to Ukrainian countermeasures.
The Ukrainian president appeared to insist on his proposal to start a 30-day unconditional ceasefire on Monday. “There is no point in continuing the killing even for a single day. We expect Russia to confirm a ceasefire — full, lasting, and reliable — starting tomorrow, May 12th, and Ukraine is ready to meet,” Zelenskyy said.
Putin in remarks to the media overnight effectively rejected that ceasefire offer and proposed restarting direct talks with Ukraine in Istanbul on Thursday instead “without preconditions”. He said a ceasefire might be agreed on during the negotiations.
Putin's counteroffer came after leaders from four major European countries threatened to ratchet up pressure on Moscow if it does not accept an unconditional 30-day ceasefire in Ukraine that they offered on Saturday in a strong show of unity with Kyiv.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, in comments aired by Russian state TV on Sunday, called Putin's proposal “very serious” and said it “confirms a real intention for find a peaceful solution”.
“The goals of the talks are clear: to eliminate the root causes of the conflict. And also to ensure the interests of the Russian Federation,” Peskov said.
It is a positive sign that the Russians have finally begun to consider ending the war. The entire world has been waiting for this for a very long time. And the very first step in truly ending any war is a ceasefire.
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) May 11, 2025
There is no point in continuing the killing even for a single…
