PATNA, June 22 -- The Bihar government has directed polytechnic institutes and engineering colleges to seek accreditation under the National Board of Accreditation (NBA) and participate in the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) in an effort to strengthen and professionalise them while improving their quality, officials said on Monday.

The state will also pursue ISO certification for polytechnic institutions. Of Bihar's 46 polytechnic institutions, 44 currently operate as centres of excellence (CoE) from which 26,710 students have graduated so far. Besides securing national accreditation, it directed institutions to introduce industry-oriented courses and forge partnerships with leading automobile manufacturers for hands-on t...