We can’t ignore when the recent World Bank Study states that India has earned the distinction of having the world’s second largest education system after China. If we throw a holistic look on the history of our country, we find that “In ancient times Takshashika and Nalanda were great seats of advanced Vedic and Budhist studies respectively. Vallabhi (in Gujarat) and Vikarameshila (in Bihar) flourished in the medieval ages. Nadia and Mithila were other well-known centres. Other institutions known as ‘tols’ in Bengal also carried on the tradition of higher education. The 18th century witnessed the rise of more institutions and a new functional curriculum known as Darse-Nizami was introduced.” [1]
 
The first modern College (Calcutta Madras) was founded in1781, followed by the Sanskrit College of Banaras (1792), and the Hindu College of Calcutta (1817), were established by the East India Company. Three universities - One each at Calcutta, Madras and Bombay were established in 1854. Later on many universities and colleges came into existence.
 
The Calcutta University Commission Report (1917-19) brought some changes in education as Intermediate/Secondary classes were delinked from the university. Each state was to have one upon university. The first State Open University was opened in August 1982, at Hyderabad, followed by the prestigious Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) in 1984. 

“Under the formal education system, as on 31st March, 2000, India had 259 Universities/deemed universities and 11594 colleges with a total enrolment of 93.14 lakh students, of whom only 33.24 lakh are female students. The P.G Colleges numbered 1500, with 6911 colleges located in urban areas.” [2]

Today we see an enormous increase in the numbers of colleges, universities and students. Its result comes out due to the decline in the quality of higher education. Numbers of colleges, universities are increasing day by day but quality in higher education is deteriorating. Nothing illustrates this better than the plummeting faith of the employers in the value of the university degrees and diplomas, and the trend of delinking of degrees from job requirement. Higher education is now taken care of by universities / deemed universities, autonomous colleges and institutions of higher learning like IIT, IIMS, and ALLM etc. Due to the long line of colleges and universities our system of higher education is facing the challenge of managing quality assurance. Therefore the quality of higher education has become a major concern of today.
 
Quality and excellence are the watch-words in today’s liberated environment. Increasing cross-border education opportunities, technological development resulting in new modes of educational provisions and emergence of ‘knowledge society’ are other factors. In view of the rapid advancement of knowledge and rapid growth of complexity of technologies endeavor, the future will need greater competencies and as a consequence higher education must provide improved and speedy methods to meet today’s needs and face tomorrow’s challenges. While the expansion of the system of higher education has been impressive, the problem of access with equity, quality, and that of resource continue to burden the system as a whole.
 
In this era of globalization the requirement of International exposure to the students during the period of their study is being increasingly felt. When a student goes for higher education or applies for job, he or his interviewer uses the quality parameters of higher education and compares the colleges and universities. The purpose is to guage his international exposure that can be achieved only by the education of global quality standards. Needs and expectations of the society are changing very fast and the quality of higher education needs to be sustained at the desired level. The challenge has been rendered even more formidable and inescapable by the entry of educational centers of foreign universities, thanks to globalization and InfoTech revolution. More recently collaboration with foreign universities in certain advanced academic programs has also been incorporated in the system. Each country establishes its own Quality Assurance Agencies for higher education so that quality and excellence can be maintained and seen in higher education. 

“The Quality Assurance for Higher Education works to ensure that higher education qualifications in the United Kingdom are of a sound standard .It protects the public interest by checking how universities and colleges maintain their academic standards and quality. It also regulates the Access to higher education diploma-a qualification that enables individuals without A-levels or the usual equivalent to each higher education.” [3] 

India has also its Quality Assurance Agencies and organizations [4] that play a great role in higher education accreditation. These agencies/organizations aim at maintaining the quality and standard of higher education. They attempt to improve the quality of teaching and encourage initiating research activity, which gives a positive feedback to their teaching programs. Without accreditation 

“it is emphasized that these fake institutions have no legal entity to call themselves as university/vishavidyalaya and to award ‘degree’ which are not treated as valid for academic/employment/employment purposes.”[5]
 
In this paper UGC and AICTE and their accreditation agencies are being discussed. 

Since India attained independence in 1947, concerted efforts are being made in the country for the improvement of quality in higher education. Quality would mainly depend on the quality of all its facets, be it the Faculty Staff, Students, Infrastructure etc. As such, all the policies, systems and processes should be clearly directed towards attaining improvements in all the relevant facets for the overall rise in the quality of education. Several quality parameters or measures have been outlined in policy documents of the government and are working in our country for the different fields but in higher and technical education, the responsibility of assuring quality is basically given to National Accreditation bodies by National Policy on Education (1986). 

UGC and AICTE Acts provide for the establishment of Accreditation bodies like NAAC and NBA respectively. NAAC does institutional assessment of generally the conventional universities while NBA undertakes assessment in professional institutions. The University Grants Commission (UGC, 1953) prescribes the service conditions of teachers, provides curricular guidance through its subject panels, accords recognition to universities, and funnels maintenance /ad hoc grants to the Central Universities and supplementary funds to other universities. Many states have their own UGC to regulate the functioning as well as to provide financial aid to universities in their own jurisdictions. 

In 1993 UGC’s Punnaya Committee on funding of higher education stated emphatically, “It is the perception of the committee that the state must continue to accept the major responsibility for funding the essential maintenance and development requirements of the universities.” [6] 

UGC has been taking steps, through various schemes, to promote quality education having regard to the concern Access, Equity, Quality, Excellence, Relevance and Value Based Education. These five goals were the vision of Dr. Radhakrishnan who gave a new direction and life to society through his valuable vision on education. The 1986 Policy and Action Plan and these for the development of higher education is based on the two landmark reports namely the University Education Commission Report of 1948-49 (popularly known as Radhakrishnan Commission) and the Education Commission Report of 1964-66 (popularly known as Kothari Commission) which covers all the levels of education in the country required for the intellectual, spiritual and all-round development of the nation. Chapter xi of Education Commission Report deals exclusively with the ‘Objective and Improvement’ of higher education, which form the crux of the National Policy on Education that come soon after and the commission enunciated five main objectives of universities in the modern world and these are abridged below:

During the plan of xi, twelve more universities were recommended by the Standing Committees on UPE. These universities were called “Centre with potential for excellence “in a particular area by The Standing Committees; National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC, 1994). In order to assess the quality and to stimulate culture of excellence a central body has been introduced in 1994-National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) with its headquarters at Bangalore. The NAAC accredits traditional arts, science and commerce colleges. It assesses the level and relative ranking of the institutions at the national level. Its positive role in quality assurance cannot be commended; it may as well as in order to undertake a critical review of its quality parameters. Its mission is “to make quality the essential element of higher education in India through a combination of self and external quality assessment and accreditation.” [8]  Towards this end it undertakes periodic assessment and accreditation of institutions of higher education or with units thereof, a specific academic programs or projects. Its evaluation of assessment and quality of higher education depends on seven criteria curricular aspects, teaching-learning and evaluation, consultancy and extension, infrastructure and learning resources, student support and progression, organization and management, healthy practices. 

1. “to seek and cultivate new knowledge“, “to see truth” and “interpret old knowledge and beliefs in the light of new needs and discoveries”;
   
2. to provide society the right kind of leadership in all walks of life;
   
3. to provide society with competent men and women trained in agriculture, arts, medicine, science ,and technology, and various other professions, with a sense of social purpose;
   
4. to strive to provide equality and social justice and to reduce social and cultural differences through diffusion of education ;and
   
5. to foster in the teachers and students, and through them in society generally, the attitudes and value needed for developing the ‘good life ’in individuals and society.
   
6. The University Grants Commission Act, 1956, empowers the UGC to take, “all such steps as it may think fit for promotion and co-ordination of university education and for determination and maintenance of standards in teaching, examination and research in the universities.” [7] 

1. For a detailed treatment see : A .S. Altekar ,Education in Ancient India (Benares;1934-esp.pp.244-255);The Report of University Education Commission (1948-49),Chap.1;Nurulla and J.P .Naik , Students ‘ History of Education in India (1800-1947) (Macmillan),1955-Chap.1 to 4;M.Ashfaque Ahmad, System of Education in Medieval India (1526-1761 AD), New Delhi,1987; Moonis Raza (ed.) Higher Education in India: Retrospect and Prospect (Delhi),1991;pp.1-19.
2. UGC Annual Report 1999-2000, pp.viii; ix and UGC Schemes (ed. D.N. Swami) pp.999 to 1011.
3. The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education
4. List of recognized higher education accreditation organizations
5. “CHEA International Directory Introduction.”chea.org.http.//www.chea.org/intelp/Internation Directory.asp. Retrieved 2011.05.24 
6. Power, K.B., Conglomerate of Concepts and Practices, New Delhi, 2002, p.210 
7. Draft Report of Working Group on Higher Education,11th Five Year Plan Government of Indian Planning Commission, New Delhi,9.2  
8. Draft Report of Working Group on Higher Education,11th Five Year Plan Government of Indian Planning Commission ,New Delhi,11.45  
9. Education Promotion Society for India, Need for Autonomous Multiple Accreditation Agencies  
10. NAAC, NBA Tag a must for all colleges in State  
11. Ibid   
12. Ibid  
13. Draft Report of Working Group on Higher Education,11th Five Year Plan Government of Indian Planning Commission, New Delhi,107-7  
14. What is AICTE Recognition and NBA Accreditation? June 23 by Zahid
15. Our aim is to make NBA a global seal of quality education: Dr.D.K. Paliwal, Member Secretary, NBA (MBA Universe.com News Bureau (01 March, 2012/212 hrs 1st)  
16. World Summit on Accreditation (WOSA, 2012) New Delhi: March 25,28,2012 Achieving Excellence through Accreditation  
17. Our aim is to make NBA a global seal of quality education: Dr.D.K. Paliwal, Member Secretary, NBA (MBA Universe.com News Bureau (01 March, 2012/212 hrs 1st  
18. World Summit on Accreditation (WOSA, 2012) New Delhi: March 25,28, 2012 Achieving Excellence Through Accreditation  19.Ibid