The National Institute of Technology (NIT)-Patna will seek the National Board of Accreditation's (NBA's) nod for two postgraduate courses.

The institute has already got accreditation for five of its undergraduate courses. The undergraduate courses that received NBA accreditation are civil, mechanical, electrical, electronics and communication and computer science engineering.

The institute will now seek accreditation for its MTech courses in civil and mechanical engineering. NIT-Patna offers MTech courses in five specialisations, three in civil and two in electrical engineering. Under civil engineering, it offers three disciplines - structural, transportation and water resources engineering - while in electrical engineering, specialisations are offered in power system and control system. Since the administration is seeking accreditation for its MTech courses, the institute has directed the departments to pull up their socks and upgrade infrastructure and research facilities.

It has asked the two MTech departments to register with the NBA following which they will have to prepare for a self-appraisal report (SAR).

A self-appraisal report consists of detailed information about an institute, such as the number of students and teachers, the important research and projects the departments have carried out in the recent past, a detailed report about the funds received and utilisation of the same, etc.

Sources said the institute has already collaborated with Handong Global University, South Korea, for an exchange of research works. NIT-Patna also has tie-ups with IIT-Kanpur and IIT-Kharagpur.

The NIT-Patna administration will have to send the report to the NBA following which a team from the board will visit Patna for assessment.

The All India Council of Technical Education established the National Board of Accreditation in 1994 for periodic evaluation of technical institutions and programmes according to the specified norms and standards recommended by the council.

In 2007, it became a member of the prestigious Washington Accord under which recognition given to any technical institution is accepted globally.

After getting NBA accreditation, NIT would be recognised globally and students would not face problems in getting admission to any foreign university for higher education as the syllabus, courses, researches and placement activities would also be globally recognised.

The other advantage of getting the accreditation is that it will be easier in getting funds from the World Bank and other foreign agencies. The World Bank's Technical Education Quality Improvement Programme (TEQIP) provides financial assistance for running programmes assisted under the TEQIP scheme.