Indian education system is the third largest
in the world, producing large numbers of graduates every year. The country has
not been able to achieve full economic benefit from its’ skill base due to
mismatch between education and the labour market requirements, and wide
variation in quality of education within each category of institutions.
The Government of India is trying to fill
this gap by accrediting the institutions through NBA & NAAC, but is not
able to achieve much due to various reasons.
To fill this gap numbers of companies likes
TCS, Wipro, Infosys, L & T, Sonalika International, etc have started academia-industry
initiative by accrediting engineering institutions for mutual benefit;
producing “industry ready” recruits. This academic relationship acts as a key
driver in attracting and nurturing talent and to enhance the quality and
quantity.
As per predictions, by the year 2040, Asia,
especially the Indian subcontinent will have the maximum number of working
professionals in the world! Doesn’t this throw up huge possibilities our way?
Clearly we have a plethora of opportunities staring us in the face. The future
looks bright and promising… all we need to do is work towards it.
“Wipro
as a people intensive organization recognizes and values Wipro-Academic
relationship as a key driver in attracting and nurturing talent. We urge you to
participate in Wipro Accreditation system which identifies institutions for
building a mutually beneficial relationship.”
“Launched
by Infosys, CC is a unique academia-industry initiative to “architect the
education experience”. Our goal is to build a sustainable partnership with
engineering education institutions in India and abroad for mutual benefit;
producing “industry ready” recruits. Our objective in launching the CC
programme is to enhance the quality and quantity of the IT talent-pool; sustain
the growth of the IT industry itself. We don’t want to increase the number of
engineering colleges, or the number of graduates. We intend to increase the
employability of students. We want to have a consistent output, irrespective of
all variables involved. It doesn’t matter where the college is located (big
city or remote town), the kind of faculty, or students. However the conditions
may be, with the help of our partners, we want to achieve a high-quality,
constant product. Currently we have more than 300 engineering colleges under
our wing, and the numbers are growing steadily!
Origin of AQUA:
It was felt that many more institutions
require extensive hand holding in introducing quality measures and educational
reforms. These institutions will be able to offer quality education, become
Centre of Excellence and produce manpower of world class competence with the
support of experienced academic scholars and professionals.
With this ideology, Local Konnect Consultancy Pvt. Ltd., formed the AQUA, a wing dedicated to help the colleges assist in upgrading academic quality. AQUA has a pool of large number of scholars, professionals and experts in the field of education.
Our Services under AQUA:
To Assist Higher & Technical Educational
Institutions in upgrading their quality of education, through:
·
Designing the academic monitoring mechanism
·
Preparing for Accreditation by Companies.
·
Preparing for Accreditation by NBA or NAAC.
·
ISO 9001-2008 Certification Consultancy
·
Grading/Ranking of Institutions.
·
Establishing New Institutions (Polytechnics,
Colleges and University).
·
Developing Strategic Plan and Road Mapping
We Claim:
The
LocalKonnect (AQUA) systems play a greater role in improving decision making
(Strategy Development) and targeting service delivery (Performance Monitoring).
Strategy
Development:
At this stage, Each institution shall have on file an Institutional
Effectiveness Plan (IEP) that describes the characteristics of the programs
offered and of the student population, describes what types of data will be
used for assessment, identifies outcomes, and states how continuous
improvement will be made to improve or enhance outcomes. At a minimum,
the following five elements will be evaluated for institutional effectiveness:
- Student retention rates;
- Student placement rates;
- Level of graduate satisfaction;
- Level of employer satisfaction;
and
- Student learning outcomes.
Performance
Monitoring: An important element of this is the need
to find appropriate indicators or targets that can then be adopted to guide
service delivery and monitor performance. This information, particularly
collected over time is vital in understanding trends and providing policy
makers with a more fulsome range of data from which targets and policy goals
can be chosen. Selected datasets or variables can be important in monitoring
performance.
Institutions shall document that the
specific activities listed in the IEP are carried out and that periodic
progress reports are completed to ensure that the plan's activities are
implemented. Appropriate individuals should be assigned responsibility for
implementing and monitoring the Institutional Effectiveness Plan.
It is important that the institution does have a designated
person or group responsible for implementing and monitoring the IEP. And that
the person or group knows who they are and what their responsibilities are! A
good way to document progress is through the minutes of the team and/or through
minutes of staff and faculty meetings.
Evaluation
of the Institutional effectiveness
Institutions shall evaluate
the plan, its goals, and activities at least annually. Evaluation requires the
determination of initial baseline rates and a measurement of results after
planned activities have occurred. Institutions shall maintain documentation of
historical outcomes and show evidence of how this documentation is used to
achieve expected goals. Institutions should adjust their goals accordingly as a
result of an evaluation of the Institutional Effectiveness Plan.
“Quality is never an accident; it is always the
result of high intention, sincere effort, intelligent direction and skilful
execution; it represents the wise choice of many alternatives.” The APRM is a
living document that “represents the wise choice of many alternatives.”
