Doing some blunt speaking, a top official of the national board of accreditation (NBA) told a gathering of academicians that teachers display “extraordinary arrogance” in classrooms, resulting in an atmosphere that does not foster innovation and creative thinking

“Teachers exhibit an extraordinary degree of arrogance in classrooms. This kills the spirit of innovation and creativity,” said Mr D.K. Paliwal, member-secretary, NBA, while delivering the inaugural address at a two-day seminar on Salient Aspects of New Accreditation System 2012 (SANAS 2012).

The gathering included the vice-chancellor of Madurai’s Anna University of Technology R. Murugesan and chairman of Sethu institute of technology Mohammad Jaleel.

Mr Paliwal lamented that while technical institutions have proliferated in India, the quality of education there leaves a lot to be desired. The NBA, he said, is keen to facilitate the raising of teaching standards in all engineering educational institutions.

This would improve the employability of the students.He also said NBA was keen to join the elite global group of accreditation institutions, known as Washington Accord. Presently, only a handful of countries like the US, UK, Australia, Japan, Ireland and Turkey are members of this group.

The objective is to usher in pedagogical standards that are globally superior and relevant to industry needs and ensure greater acceptability of Indian students in India and abroad, he added.

NBA would soon embark on a series of workshops across India to create awareness among faculty members, students and other stakeholders on the new accreditation process introduced last year.