HRD Ministry: Faculty Profiles to be linked to Aadhaar Numbers for Transparency

In order to curb ‘ghost’ teachers and introduce transparency in the education system, the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) is planning to link the faculty profiles with Aadhaar numbers.

The idea has been proposed by the HRD Ministry in order to keep a check on colleges that submit false data regarding their teaching staff in order to apply for quality accreditation. By linking the faculty profiles with Aadhaar, the verification process will be simplified.

Following the reports of corruption by peer teams and subjectivity in the NAAC accreditation process, the council suspended its application process till the grading system is revamped. The HRD Ministry has urged NAAC to bring in objectivity, transparency and advanced technological means to evaluate the performance of institutes.

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The ministry has proposed various changes apart from the linking the faculty profiles to Aadhaar number. The final framework for accreditation of colleges will be launched in August 2017.

Here are the changes proposed by the MHRD for the revised NAAC Accreditation Framework:

• Inspections will be carried out by professional data verification agencies like Crisil instead of academic teams. IITs, IIMs, NITs will also be asked to collaborate for onsite peer review.
• All faculty profiles along with the other human resource data will be linked to Aadhaar Numbers. Options will also be provided to upgrade the data in order to generate instant alerts and reports for the transparency purpose.
• CV of the peer team members evaluating colleges on site will also be provided on public domain.
• Alumni and students of institutes will also be asked to engage in student satisfaction survey. Generic learning outcomes will also be considered for evaluating colleges.
• Now, 80% weightage will be given to self-reported data collected through software, whereas, 20% weightage will be given to peer review teams.

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The government has also warned that colleges submitting fraudulent data will be charged a heavy penalty. If colleges are found to have achieved grading on the basis of false data, their accreditation status might be changed in the middle of the term.