About Academic Audit

Higher Education, in India, is one among the top three areas of development undergoing a tremendous change. The country is becoming a global hub for educational activities and a feeder for all kinds of international man-power requirement. There is a growing demand for, and also concern to, provide quality education with standard curriculum and globally acceptable system of education. Everywhere the idea of increasing Gross Enrollment ration, Generating more human resource with intellectual inputs are given much thrust.

The NAAC(National Assessment and Accreditation Council) of India has evolved certain benchmarks for ascertaining and ensuring quality at different levels of Higher Education and for its continued sustenance. During the last ten years, Universities in India have taken serious note of these emerging needs and demands and trying to update the curriculum, design new Programs and offer better educational services while maintaining high quality. By establishing Internal Quality Assurance Cells (IQAC) and conducting External Quality Assurance checks its possible to go for a Total Quality Management in an Academic Institution.

All Higher Educational Institutions in India are expected to go through stringent quality assessment procedure by an external peer review, and series of accreditation based on a set of predetermined academic and administrative audit criteria. Accreditation and Re-accreditation have become regular processes for showing continuous improvements. The monitoring and evaluation of the institutional processes require a carefully structured system of internal and external introspection.

The National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) expects the Institutions to undertake continuous Academic and Administrative Audits by external peers, after every Assessment and Accreditation. This is an important step to evaluate independently as to how well the improvement processes are taking place and what more needs to be done. Not many Institutions are prepared to undertake this step mainly due to their reluctance to expose their weaknesses. The Institutions which strive to attain excellence are always on the move to contribute more to the growth and development of Education System.

For assuring quality and excellence in higher education, Pondicherry University has also taken steps to monitor its progress and evaluate the systems performances by establishing not only the Internal Quality Assurance Cells and but also through Academic and Administrative Audit (AAAC) conducted by external experts.