Grievance Redressal in Educational Institutions

In an important step towards making education more efficient and responsive in all technical institutions, HRD Ministry has stressed the need to have a mechanism for online registration as well as disposal of the grievances not only of the students but also the faculty members and the other stakeholders. A “Grievance/Complaint” can be described as any statement that conveys dissatisfaction about an action or lack of action, about services/deficiency of services in an institution and the aggrieved person asks for remedial action. With a view of ensuring a satisfactory atmosphere for the students and teachers and to secure the rights of the institute stakeholders, All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), which regulates technical education in the country, has asked all the institutions, affiliated to it, to immediately put in place an online mechanism, if not presently existing, for registering and disposing of grievances.
Wilkins Grievance Redress Mechanism is an online grievance redressal system which helps the institute to establish a complaint management system for the fair redressal of grievances. Using an efficient grievance redressal system, every educational institution can claim to be accountable, responsive and user-friendly in terms of the services it provides. As the system is highly competitive to provide feedback on the institute administration, the efficiency of the institute can also be measured easily by authorities. Unlike the conventional grievance cell procedures, online grievance redress system runs in a systematic and streamlined way which results in effective resolving of the grievances related to admission, attendance, discipline matters, student conduct, fee related matter, evaluation process, observation of norms and standards, violation of rules, discrimination, harassment and other academic and non-academic issues. Online grievance management system develops an organisational framework to redress grievances of students and other stakeholders providing immediate access and hassle free recourse.
The prime aim of the grievance tracking system is to create a responsive and accountable attitude among all the institute stakeholders in order to maintain a well-balanced educational atmosphere in the institute. Grievance redressal technology helps the institute authority to establish a systematic and structured interaction with the complainants to elicit information, identify systemic flaws in the administration and institute a monitoring mechanism to oversee the working of the institutional policies. Using an online mechanism for the registration and disposal of grievances, institutions can uphold its dignity by promoting amiable student-educator relationship and can be effectively used to sort out the grievances promptly and judiciously.