Quality Assurance and Academic Integrity in Higher Education in India

Abstract

Massification of the higher education sector in India is accompanied by the proliferation of providers, multiplicity of regulatory bodies, and diversification of study programs. The establishment of private universities in this century has contributed to the fast expansion and massification of the sector. The increasing diversity of institutions and students have raised questions about the quality in the delivery of services and transparency and integrity in the functioning of institutions. Complaints about malpractice and court cases on corrupt practices are not rare in higher education in India. Those indulging in malpractices believe that the rewards from them outweigh the risks since the regulatory bodies may not always be effective to detect corruption and apply sanctions to them. In response to this situation, new quality assurance measures were launched in 1994. Since then, many institutions have come under closer scrutiny, with reviews of their student admissions, staff recruitment, and administrative practices. Further, measures have been established since then to check common corrupt academic practices such as producing fake qualification certificates, awarding degrees to undeserving candidates, seeking financial or sexual favors for grade, sale of degrees, plagiarism in publications, ghost writing in exams, contract writing of assignments and doctoral theses, false diplomas, and credentials by diploma mills. This chapter shows that the recently introduced mandatory accreditation arrangements have streamlined institutional practices and helped institutions to improve academic integrity and standards of behavior.