Test Of Quality Education Across India: NIRF Ranking

Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD), Government of India has released the National Institutional Ranking on 11th June 2020. This ranking is based on the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF). The MHRD of India launched NIRF in 2015. This was an attempt to establish a comprehensive structure for ranking institutions of higher education in India. This year’s ranking of Indian institutes is based on 10 different categories- Overall, University, Engineering, Management, Pharmacy, College, Medical, Law, Architecture and Dental.

In the overall category, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras grabbed the 1st position, while Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bangaluru scored 2nd position and Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi got 3rd rank. In the university category, Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bangaluru is placed at 1st position, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi at 2nd while Banaras Hindu University (BHU), Varanasi is at 3rd rank. The top three institutes in the engineering category are Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi and Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay. Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Ahmedabad, Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Bangalore and Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Calcutta are the top three institutes under management category. In the pharmacy, top three institutions are- Jamia Hamdard, New Delhi, Panjab University, Chandigarh and National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER) Mohali. Top three colleges in India are Miranda House, Lady Shri Ram College for Women and Hindu College- all from New Delhi. Top three medical colleges in India are All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi, Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh and Christian Medical College, Vellore.  Top law institute in India is National Law School of India University, Bangaluru while National Law University, Delhi and Nalsar University of Law, Hyderabad are placed at 2nd and 3rd rank respectively. In the architecture category, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Roorkee and National Institute of Technology (NIT) Calicut, Kozhikode are the top three institutes. Maulana Azad Institute of Dental Sciences, Delhi is the top dental college in India, while Manipal College of Dental Sciences, Udupi and Dr D Y Patil Vidyapeeth, Pune got 2nd and 3rd rank respectively.

The ranking methodology is based on five broad parameters with extensive sub-heads for ranking of academic institutions through the length and breadth of the country, which includes- ‘Teaching, Learning and Resources’ (weightage of 0.30), ‘Research and Professional Practices’ (weightage of 0.30), ‘Graduation Outcomes’ (weightage of 0.20), ‘Outreach and Inclusivity’ (weightage of 0.10) and ‘Perception’ (weightage of 0.10). The methodology involves the calculation of composite individual sub-heads under these five broad categories. Each sub-head in the broad category is assigned different weights. Each sub-head is also categorised in a more detailed manner and values are calculated based on the data provided by the institutions. Combined metric for each sub-heads are calculated and finally, each institution (which provides data) is provided with the final scores out of hundred.

The NIRF ranking of higher education institutes across India overcasts wrecked system. States like Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha and Madhya Pradesh has been dismal in the educational landscape of India. The ranking reveals some distressing facts. Only one institute of Bihar (Indian Institute of Technology Patna) is in the overall category of the NIRF, which is placed at 54th position. In the engineering category, only two institutes- IIT Patna (26th) and NIT Patna (92nd) have been able to mark its presence. No other institute, university or college is included in any other category. Bihar has two newly established central universities, Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Bodhgaya, AIIMS Patna, PMCH, Chanakya National Law University, Chandragupt Institute of Management Patna (CIMP), Birla Institute of Technology Patna, NIFT Patna, IIIT Bhagalpur and other state universities and colleges. Either all these institutes have failed to figure out in the ranking of NIRF or they have not uploaded their institutional data to the NIRF portal. The dismal representation in the rankings can also be attributed to the voluntary participation for the NIRF rankings. This is a pathetic situation for Bihar in the higher education system. The craving for higher education has compelled students of Bihar to migrate to other states of India. States like Jharkhand and Odisha are better compared to Bihar in terms of higher educational institutes. Two institutes (Indian Institute of Technology, ISM Dhanbad and Birla Institute of Technology Mesra) from Jharkhand are placed in the overall category, one in the university category (Birla Institute of Technology Mesra); three engineering institutes are placed at 12th (Indian Institute of Technology, ISM Dhanbad), 38th (Birla Institute of Technology Mesra) and 79th (NIT Jamshedpur) position. Four institutes have got rank in the management category out of total 75, while one in pharmacy (16th rank) and one in architecture ( 13th rank) have grabbed their position. In Odisha, four institutes are in the overall category, three universities, five engineering colleges, three management institutes, and two each in medical, law and dental colleges are ranked in the NIRF. Other states like Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, West Bengal’s performance is outstanding in the ranking.

Bihar has an insufficient educational infrastructure leading to a vast disparity between demand and supply. Education has never been in the priority list of the government of Bihar in the last three decades. Centrally funded institutes are also not performing at their full potential. Range of issues includes a low level of infrastructure and facilities, inadequate student-teacher ratio, lack of professional and vocational institutes, lack of research funding, lack of scholarship for researchers are among few to mention. Bihar has witnessed systematic failure in appointing the faculties in state universities. The situation of laboratories, libraries, classrooms with aided technological facilities and other allied infrastructure for quality education is in a pathetic state. Higher education institutes in Bihar need to address the issues that are responsible for low performance not in terms of ranking only but also to ensure quality education. The state like Bihar is missing the opportunities as a hub for higher education. The government of India has opened institutions of national importance in Bihar to offer better higher education, however, they are lagging behind.

Although, Government of India has created an extensive network of the public education system; however, it is highly ineffective. Cross-country state wise disparity in the quality of universities and colleges is a reason to worry. States like Bihar, Jharkhand and Odisha are lagging behind in the higher education map of India. There are impediments in the educational system and requires massive structural transformations and revival in higher education in bulk. Without renovation of the educational system, India risks of mushrooming of institutes without imparting quality education. NIRF ranking provides a comprehensive tool to gauge the performance of higher education institutes in India and at the same time provide the prospects to revive the lagging states’ higher education system. The recent NIRF rankings provide a reality check for poor states and exemplify the regional disparity in the distribution of quality higher education institutions across India.