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Source: The post is based on the article “Rankings, and the realities of higher education” published in The Hindu on 29th June 2023.
Syllabus: GS2- Issues related to development and management of education
Relevance: Higher education
News: The National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) recently released the India Rankings for 2023 , evaluates institutions on certain parameters.
What are the issues with NIRF ranking?
The first is the issue of participation of institutions. As per the All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE) 2021, only 12.3% of higher educational institutions participated in the ranking process.
Further, the lack of participation of institutions from rural areas raises questions about the inherent urban bias in the ranking framework.
The second issue is the incongruence between quantity and quality. Of the top 100 colleges ranked by NIRF, 35 are from Tamil Nadu, 32 are from Delhi, 14 are from Kerala, and the remaining are from the rest of India.
Quality differences are evident between private and government institutions as well. In the overall rankings, the highest rank secured by a private institution is 15.
The third issue stems from the close correlation between faculty strength and rankings. Only 33.98% adhere to the AICTE-prescribed faculty-student ratio of 1:20.
The fourth issue is reflected in scientific publications. Only 12.3% of institutions which have participated in the ranking contribute close to 90% of scholarly output in the country.
What is the way forward for improving higher education?
Both the Union government and the States should earmark substantial funds in their respective budgets for this.
India’s share in the overall world scientific publications is about 4.81%. In comparison. China’s share of world publications increased from 5% in 2000 to 26% in 2018. This was facilitated by massive research investments by the Chinese government.
Informed evidence-based policy decisions should be taken in line with NIRF standards.
The quality of State universities can be enhanced. It would also serve the purpose of serving students in rural locations.
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