Bhubaneswar, Aug. 25: Principals of more than 150 colleges are taking part in the two-day "Principals' conference for NAAC" that began at Utkal University today.

The event aims to sensitise college heads on NAAC accreditation and its benefits. The objective of the programme is to train the principals to identify the strengths and weakness of their colleges.

While students use NAAC rankings to decide which institute to take admission in, the ones securing a minimum of B grade from NAAC are eligible for various funding schemes from the government for academic and research programmes.

Although 254 colleges under the varsity are eligible to apply for NAAC, only 19 have valid accreditations. While 98 have already applied for it, some are in the process of applying.

Vice-chancellor Ashok Das, in his inaugural speech, suggested steps to improve the quality of education and research.

Joint secretary of higher education A.K. Nayak said that all colleges must go for NAAC to enhance their credibility.

He asked the colleges to sort out their land-related issues and to make use of the infrastructure grant and utilise it properly before the NAAC team visits their campuses.

Chairman of postgraduate council R.K. Bal said the NAAC accreditation should be a team work.

A.P. Padhy, the chief resource person appointed by NAAC Bangalore, discussed the advantages of NAAC accreditation along with the financial grant from UGC and government.

Emphasising on clean documentation, Padhy said: "The presentation should be clear and the documents should be data-based. Also, the colleges must justify their weaknesses, such as reason behind dropouts."