NEP: Universities to Not Affiliate More than 300 Colleges, Affiliation System to be Gradually Phased out

According to the new National Education Policy, universities will not be able to provide affiliation to more than 300 colleges. The NEP has proposed granting greater autonomy to colleges with a view to gradually phase out the affiliation system, HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal said on 12 August.

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In a virtual session on Education Post-COVID-19, the HRD MInister said there are universities which provide affiliation to as many as 800 colleges. It is impossible to keep an eye on the quality and functions of so many colleges, he said.

He added that in the NEP, the MHRD will work on this in a phased manner.

“One university will not affiliate more than 300 colleges and for that, if we need to increase the number of universities we will do that,” he said.

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According to the NEP, the affiliation system will be phased out across a period of 15 years. In its place, a stage-wise mechanism will be founded which will grant graded autonomy to colleges through a transparent system of graded accreditation.

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The plan envisions that over time, every college will either grow into an autonomous degree-granting college, or a constituent college of a university.

Currently, there are 45,000 degree colleges in India, out of which only 8,000 are autonomous.