Accreditation to schools in India is provided by National Accreditation Board of Education & Training (NABET) which is a constituent board of Quality Council of India. NABET has set the framework and standards for Quality School Governance which is applicable to all schools, regardless of their size, type, board affiliation and nature of educational service provided.
These standards have been developed for schools so that they provide:
· Educational services that is beneficial for all parties involved.
· Quality consciousness
· Effectiveness rating of an educational management system.
NABET has its parameters against which it allots scores to the school and these scores decide further approval of the accreditation. Parameters like:
· Qualified Staff
· Facilities provided by the school
· Maintenance and Records
· Infrastructure
· Examination & Evaluation etc
These parameters help in establishing a system of self development, learning and improved performance. It encourages all schools to pursue continual excellence in whatever they do.
Benefits of Accreditation
· It helps to ensure that educational and support processes are competitive enough to provide an all round development of a child
· Enhances the satisfaction of all the involved parties in terms of continual improvement of the system
· Conceptualizes national curricular objectives in school processes i.e. it standardizes school processes as per national requirements.
· It enhances and evolves the teaching as well as learning methods and processes
· Designs structure and methodologies for effective school governance as well as performance measurements and evaluation methods.
Steps for School Accreditation
1. A school conducts self-assessment and submits it to NABET along with the application form and fees
2. School prepares and hosts for readiness visit by NABET
3. A letter of commitment is submitted by the school to comply with the findings arising out of readiness visit along with the annual accreditation fees.
4. School hosts the assessment visit by NABET team.
5. A finding report is submitted by NABET team to the school
6. School works on the action plan and acts on the findings provided
7. Accreditation team of NABET reviews the actions on the findings. If the actions are implemented properly, the school is given NABET accreditation for a period of four years with yearly progress review. If the actions are not implemented properly, the school may opt for NABET assessment again after proper preparation.
8. After accreditation, the school engages in continual improvement and hosts a periodic progress review visit by NABET.
9. At the end of four years, the school submits application form again for continuance of accreditation.
NABET Accreditation Mark
Once a school is accredited, it can use NABET accreditation mark in any of the media of communications such as school letter head, newsletters, promotional materials, annual reports, brochures, business cards, advertisements etc.
In case of suspension or expiry or withdrawal of its accreditation, the school should discontinue the use of NABET accreditation mark.
Conclusion
The Quality School Governance accreditation standard, if understood and implemented in its true spirit will help schools to move from being people driven to process driven organizations. It will help schools to self-assess and improve themselves.
Some schools may take it as a threat to their privacy but they need to understand that the standard does not dictates terms and conditions but is just an attempt to achieve excellence through an education quality management system.