Accreditation for IITs on the horizon as council reviews reforms

Institutes of Technology will now need to undergo accreditation, a decision taken at the IIT Council meeting on Aug 25, according to a senior Ministry of Education official.

The move raises questions on which agency will carry out the process and how it will be structured.

The National Education Policy 2020 had proposed the creation of a National Accreditation Council under the Higher Education Commission of India, but the body is yet to take shape.

Officials said the framework and timeline for accreditation are still being worked out, with IITs expected to provide inputs.

At present, the institutes rely on internal peer reviews and program evaluations. They are not assessed by the National Assessment and Accreditation Council, which handles accreditation for most higher education institutions.

A 2023 report prepared by a ministry-appointed committee led by Dr K Radhakrishnan had recommended bringing IITs under a single national accreditation system.

The council meeting, held after two years, also focused on student well-being. Officials said IIT Madras shared its initiatives for mental health support.

The need to address language barriers was another key point, with a ministry statement quoting Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan as saying, “IITs must promote Indian languages by introducing regional languages as the medium of instruction for inclusive growth.”

Final decisions on language policies will rest with the Senate of each institute. Currently, IIT Jodhpur is the only one offering Hindi instruction to first-year BTech students.

The National Credit Framework was on the agenda, but officials did not discuss it. However, IITs have already prepared their own framework for implementation.