Accreditation Procedure: A Delicate Link

1. Base Paper : Sub Group IIIAccreditation Procedure and Mechanisms of Grading of VOs2nd Meeting of the Task ForceSeptember 23, 2009

2. Accreditation Procedure: A Delicate Link • Accreditation procedure is vulnerable to: • Human errors and biases • Logistic constraints • Baffling diversity of contexts and conditions

3. Characteristics of Good Accreditation Procedure • Simple, clear and practical; • Easy to be taught, learnt and applied on ground; • Sufficiently generic to fit into a variety of contexts; • Flexible but not arbitrary or loosely framed; • Empirical as against judgmental; • Amenable to verification by any body at any point of time; • Transparent and participative; • Feasible in terms of time-resource-logistic requirements

4. Some Basic Principles • Different levels of services to suit different genre of organizations: • Level 1: Registration for tiny CBOs, SHGs, etc. • Level 2: Accreditation on minimum / desirable norms for NGOs • Level 3: Grading / rating for specialized technical / professional organizations • Applicable level to be decided during preliminary screening • Standard procedures at each level to avoid arbitrariness • Carefully designed tools for evidence based assessment • Self-explanatory guidelines and user’s kits to accompany the assessment tools

5. Alternative Procedures of Accreditation • Self-accreditation • Accreditation through peer review • Accreditation by an authorized accreditation agency • Practical choice in the present scenario: Accreditation by an authorized agency

6. Institutional Setup for Accreditation Procedure • Regional Accreditation Committees • Regional Networks of Certified Assessors

7. Regional Accreditation Committees • Eminent personalities from the voluntary sector; • Experts in accreditation - those who have served in NAAC, School Accreditation Board and such other accreditation bodies; • Legal, financial, management experts; • Retired senior officers from judiciary (ex-Judges); • Retired senior officers from the academics (ex-Vice Chancellors); • Any other persons with established reputation and credibility.

8. Regional Networks of Assessors • Selected through an open quantitative procedure • Rigorous training and tests • Certification upon qualifying the tests • Feedback from assessee organizations on the performance, conduct and integrity • Annual appraisal to renew / terminate the certification

9. Steps and Tools of Accreditation Procedure • Registration • NAC to provide a universal registration service to the voluntary sector (draft Registration Form is available) • Unifying effect on the voluntary sector • Unified database of the voluntary sector

10. Steps and Tools of Accreditation Procedure… • Applying for Accreditation • Every registered VO must apply for accreditation • Preliminary screening to decide the eligibility for accreditation • Acceptance of application in case of suitable VOs • Others to reapply when ready

11. Minimum Norms National Accreditation Council Accreditation Awarded Desirable Norms Regional Set Up Accreditation Recommended Regional Accreditation Committees Regional Networks of Certified Assessors Reassessment Recommended Registration of VOs Assessment Report Application for Accreditation Screening & Acceptance of Application Assessment Visits to VOs Distribution of Self-Assessment Forms to VOs Acceptance of Complete Forms Desk Review Of Filled Forms Incomplete Forms Referred Back to VOs An Overview of Accreditation Procedure

12. Steps and Tools of Accreditation Procedure… • Filing of Self-Assessment Forms by VOs • A set of two forms proposed (draft forms available) • Form A: consists of two sections: • Section-I: Information regarding compliance to Minimum Norms • Section-II: Information regarding compliance to Desirable Norms • Form B: deals with the information relating to the Board to be filled and certified by the Board Members. • Forms to be filled and returned by VOs • Detailed guidelines to assist VOs in filling up the forms (draft guidelines are available)

13. Steps and Tools of Accreditation Procedure… • Desk Review • Desk review of self-assessment forms by certified assessors • Incomplete forms to be referred back to VO for necessary completions / corrections • Complete forms to be screened using a structured desk review tool (draft tool is available)

14. Steps and Tools of Accreditation Procedure… • Assessment Visits • VOs qualifying the desk review to be visited for first-hand verification of information • A team of two certified assessors to make assessment visits: • An experts in legal / financial matters • A development / programming expert

15. Steps and Tools of Accreditation Procedure… • Assessment Visits … • Verification of documents / records • Interactions with VO’s officers, staff, board members, target groups and other stakeholders • Assessment visit report to be filed (draft format available) • Handy guidelines to be provided to assessors for reference during the visit (draft guidelines available)

16. Steps and Tools of Accreditation Procedure… • Screening and Recommendation by Regional Accreditation Committees (RACs) • RACs to examine the assessors’ reports as well as all other supporting documents • VOs to be heard in person if necessary • If satisfied, RACs to recommend accreditation of concerned VO (on minimum or desirable norms) to NAC • If not satisfied, a clear report to be sent to the concerned VO on the compliance required – VO to reapply when ready

17. Mechanism for Grading of VOs • Accreditation: Universal minimum competencies without competition • Accreditation norms can be common across sectors / field • Grading: Competitive excellence • Grading norms have to sector specific

18. Mechanism for Grading of VOs • An advisory group to be constituted for each sector consisting of the representatives of the concerned Central / State Ministry, donor organizations, technical experts, etc., to evolve the grading norms • Assessment to be carried out by experts from the concerned field • Assessment steps can be similar but assessment tools to be highly sector specific • RACs / NAC to invite the respective advisory groups for deciding cases of grading

19. Thank You!