Surprisingly, it is the only college in the North Campus that is yet to be accredited by the Council.
Despite lack of funds, Ramjas has decided to apply for the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) this year. Extensive renovation work is underway, but the college has taken up ‘sustainable renovation’, implying the reuse and recycling of building materials.
Over 35 Delhi University (DU) affiliated colleges have been graded by NAAC, with Shri Ram College of Commerce (SRCC), Lady Shri Ram College (LSR), and Hindu College topping the list. The university, as a whole, has been graded A+.“To manage the resources, most of the work in Ramjas has been done internally, using waste material from the college itself to cut down on the cost,” Principal, Dr. Manoj Khanna said.
The stone slabs, which were otherwise rendered useless after being discarded from other parts of the campus have been put to use in making pathways. Besides, new railings are being built out of underground water pipes.In works is also a rainwater harvesting unit, the covers of which have been made out of the tops of the college’s out-of-use water coolers.
Other reforms in the run-up to the accreditation bid are creation of a ‘purchasing committee’ and formulation of a standard operating procedure for college-related expenditure. “The aim is to try and move towards improved transparency. We are also going to move our attendance mechanism online. The majority of effort is going into collecting and organising records from all departments and societies for the last five years — financial records, student records, teachers’ publication records, etc.,” Khanna added.
The quality status score is given by the National Accreditation and Assessment Council (NAAC), an autonomous body of University Grants Commission (UGC).These scores are valid for five years after which the colleges will again have to apply for accreditation.It is still debatable why Ramjas never applied for NAAC accreditation, because it was in 2012 that UGC made accreditation compulsory for higher educational institutions, and DU executive council adopted the decision in 2014.
Once an institution applies for the accreditation, a peer team from NAAC visits the colleges for 3-4 days and interacts with teachers, students, alumni and all stakeholders of the institution. “It is a very systematic process which is comprehensive and some of which is even video recorded,” said a teacher at SRCC. (paragraph source: Hindustan Times)
Image Caption: Ramjas College to apply for NAAC
Image Credits: DU Beat
Maumil Mehraj