Understanding the National Board of Accreditation (NBA Accreditation)

There is a furor everywhere about the National Board of Accreditation being made a mandate by 2022. Running a technical institute without the NBA needs a gear-up. Gaining this hallmark quality needs a certain understanding.

You will find answers to most of your National Board of Accreditation-related uncertainties in this blog. Besides you would also know the What, When, Why, and How of it. Read on.

What is the NBA Accreditation (National Board of Accreditation)

The National Board of Accreditation’s birthplace is India. It was authorized by AICTE (All India Council of Technical Education) in 1994, with the main aim to groom the quality and competence of engineering and technical programs from diploma to postgraduate levels in certain specific fields that are recommended by AICTE.

The National Board of Accreditation critically appraises to evaluate whether an institute/program reaches or exceeds the standards set by the accreditation body, periodically.  Engineering, technology, management, applied arts and crafts, architecture, pharmacy, management, and hospitality come under the NBA's zone.

What makes it unique is its very own process, objectives, parameters, and  NBA accreditation criteria. All of these are in agreement with the international best practices initiated to measure the outcome of a given program.

The National Board of Accreditation assesses institutions holistically. The vision, mission, objectives, organization, quality of teaching/learning, infrastructure facilities, and support services, which include the lab, library, etc. NBA’s focus is on the accrediting diploma, undergraduate and postgraduate programs.

When was the NBA Accreditation formed?

The History of NBA Accreditation

The National Board of Accreditation wasn’t born in a day. There were major milestones that it had to cross over, to become what it is today. The brief history of the NBA below shows its major happenings and milestones.

National Board of Accreditation had a slow and steady rise since its inception until it became autonomous in the year 2011. However, it began shaping up with all its might after signing up with the Washington Accord.

NBA’s history is incomplete without WOSA (World Summit on Accreditation). WOSA was established in 2012 to impart world-class technical and professional proficiency on Indian campuses. The summit has happened four times now and brings in stakeholders to share common benchmarks and quality standards in teaching and learning.

There have been several amendments and standardization efforts in NBA rules over the years, in terms of pre-qualifiers accreditation documents, etc.

The Washington Accord

One of the breakthroughs in the NBA’s history happened with the Washington Accord (WA). Washington Accord came as a boon to many engineering institutes that were running haywire looking for a mechanism to prove their program’s quality.

WA is an international agreement between bodies responsible for accrediting engineering degree programs. The beauty of the Accord is that it exercises a mutual recognition between its participating bodies, of accredited engineering degree programs.

History of the Washington Accord

The story of the Washington Accord (WA) dates back to 1989. It was signed among six countries (Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States) initially. But today WA has branched out to have 20 signatories under it.

In its origin, WA’s six foundation signatory organizations felt that their policies, criteria, and processes were equivalent. They consented to recommend them to the registering bodies to graduates accredited by other signatories just like the way they grant to their accredited programs.

The signatories committed to sharing good practices to be followed by member countries in terms of course design and delivery in the engineering field. They determined to allow mutual collaboration in each other’s accreditation processes and to grow along.

The inception saw simple rules and procedures with bi-annual meetings. As countries started coming in, there was a realization for a much-structured plan. Thus in 1990, a six-year peer-review of signatories was formed. This was to do with the admission of new signatories, followed by a period in provisional status.

2001 and 2002 evidenced new accords and new agreements in terms of the Sydney and Dublin Accords for engineering technologists and engineering technicians. All these three were put together and brought to IEA in 2007 for engineering practitioners.

The Secretariat was created to administer the accords and agreements. There was a rise in signatories joining in. By 2009, the number increased from 11 to 15 in 2012.

2013 saw another milestone with the Accord’s membership with ENAEE, the European Network for Accreditation of Engineering Education. It is an accreditation process within Europe and there is a mutual understanding that exists between IEA and ENAEE.

India and Washington Accord

India realized the strategic importance of WA membership in the year 2007. Though it became a provisional member of the WA in 2007, it earned a permanent signatory status on June 13th, 2014.

The signatory status is subject to the condition that only programs with Tier I institutions accredited by NBA are eligible for mutual recognition under the Washington Accord.

It is undeniably true that India’s higher education has stepped ahead due to this sign-up.

Being under WA, Indian graduates gain entry internationally as to having met the academic requirements to practice in a different jurisdiction. But there is a catch here! Only students who are graduated from Tier - 1 institutions can enjoy WA’s benefits.

In the beginning, the National Board of Accreditation was following a plain model based on Input – Process – Output that reinforced resources/facilities and the respective outputs. Sometime later, it realigned its accreditation strategy based on international benchmarks and quality outcomes. However, it was after the NBA became a permanent member of the WA, that its focus was on Outcome-based Education. OBE is thus built on Washington Accord.

OBE is an educational theory that stressed students’ achieving goals, skills, and results. Hence the assessments, learning opportunities, and classroom activities help students achieve their individual goals. NBA has prescribed a definite framework of OBE and procedure for self-appraisal and review by engineering institutes.

How does NBA Accreditation work?

Getting into the NBA isn’t easy. Gaining this “quality stamping” takes an institute through a roller coaster ride, where it is groomed to the tee. NBA process is modeled to be supportive and consistent throughout.

The standards for the NBA Accreditation are authorized by a peer review group which includes the GC (General Counsel), EC, (The Executive Committee), and AAC (academic Advisory Committee). It is based on the NBA Accreditation Criteria and parameters laid by the committee and its counsel that the NBA evaluates programs of technical institutions.

Process of getting accredited through the NBA

It is only towards the end, on the whole team’s satisfaction with the successful documentation and compliance with the standards set, that the NBA Accreditation Process is given.

NBA works alongside multiple stakeholders to ensure the programs offered to prepare graduates with adequate fundamentals and professional competency, fitting enough to be recognized nationally and worldwide.

It is also privileged to enhance the quality of education in any which way. Promoting progressive changes concerning curriculum, and monitoring assessment quality standards with well-thought-out objectives and guidelines are its areas of concern.

Why should institutions get NBA Accreditation?

Owning an accreditation is similar to eminence, a prestigious honor. Graduating from an accredited institution is looked upon. There is a search for quality everywhere. The recent browbeating to make the NBA a mandate keeps most technical institutes apprehensive these days.

According to a very recent news claim made by AICTE, 6000 institutes including B-schools and Engineering colleges must finish their accreditation by 2022.

Prof Anil Sahasrabudhe, Chairperson, AICTE, in an interview with careers 360 emphasizes that “Our vision is to go for 100 percent accreditation of programs by NBA for every institute. Since it cannot happen overnight, we aim to ensure that at least 50 to 60 percent of courses and colleges are accomplished by 2022.”

AICTE also confirms that NBA programs that show reluctance to be accredited as per its new norm would be slashed out. All this is to pull up the current score from 15 percent to more.

Unbelievable benefits of graduating from an NBA Accreditation certified college

NBA Accreditation benefits could be countless. Students graduating from Tier-I Technical Institutions that are NBA accredited including IIT, NIT, and IIM, get better benefits.

1. They get to continue their higher education in any accredited universities of countries that have signed the Washington Accord on equal footing.
2. Immediately after their higher education, they enjoy the provision to start their consultancy as a chartered professional or their own business there.
3. students proved to own all qualities necessary for their professional education.