NIRF Rankings 2021

In News

• Six IITs have ranked among the 20 best institutions for management study in the latest edition of the National Institute Ranking Framework (NIRF) rankings. 

Key Points

• Expansion of footprints of engineering institutes:
  • In 2017, there were four IITs in the top 20 for management study.
  • Over the last five years, India’s premier engineering schools have expanded their footprint in the management category of NIRF.
  • Of the country’s 23 IITs, only seven offer a Master’s in management.
  • Among the IITs, IIT-Delhi has been ranked the best for management study.
  • Eight IITs and two national Institutes of Technology (NITs) figured in the top ten engineering institutions in the country.
• Management Schools:
  • IIT-Delhi is fifth in the management category in this year’s NIRF rankings, higher than reputed business schools such as IIM-Indore (rank 6), IIM-Lucknow (rank 7), and XLRI (rank 8).
• Top four:
  • The top four places in this category are occupied by the country’s premier business schools, IIM-Ahmedabad, IIM-Bangalore, IIM-Calcutta, and IIM-Kozhikode, in that order.
• Research Institution:
  • The Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bengaluru ranked the best research institution in the country. 
  • IIT Madras has ranked second and IIT Bombay at third spot in category.

(Image Courtesy: IE )

National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) 

• It was launched by the Ministry for Human Resource Development  (MHRD) [now Ministry of Education (MoE)] in September 2015. 
• This framework outlines a methodology to rank institutions across the country.
• The methodology draws from the overall recommendations, broad understanding arrived at by a Core Committee set up by MHRD, to identify the broad parameters for ranking various universities and institutions. 
• Parameters:
  • Teaching, Learning & Resources (TLR)
    • Student Strength including Doctoral Students (SS)
    • Faculty-student ratio with emphasis on permanent faculty (FSR)
    • Combined metric for Faculty with PhD (or equivalent) and Experience (FQE)
    • Financial Resources and their Utilisation (FRU)
  • Research and Professional Practice (RP)
    • Combined metric for Publications (PU)
    • Combined metric for Quality of Publications (QP)
    • IPR and Patents: Published and Granted (IPR)
    • Footprint of Projects and Professional Practice (FPPP)
  • Graduation Outcomes (GO)
    • Metric for University Examinations (GUE)
    • Metric for Number of Ph.D. Students Graduated (GPHD)
  • Outreach and Inclusivity (OI)
    • Percentage of Students from Other States/Countries (Region Diversity RD)
    • Percentage of Women (Women Diversity WD)
    • Economically and Socially Challenged Students (ESCS)
    • Facilities for Physically Challenged Students (PCS)
    • Perception (PR) Ranking
  • Peer Perception
    • Academic Peers and Employers (PR)

Issues with Higher Education

• Low Enrolment: 
  • The Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) of India in higher education is only 26.3% which is quite low as compared to the developed as well as, other developing countries. 
  • With the increase of enrolments at school level, the supply of higher education institutes is insufficient to meet the growing demand in the country.
• Less Equity: 
  • There is no equity in GER among different sects of the society. 
  • According to previous studies the GER in higher education in India among male and females varies to a greater extent. 
  • There are regional variations too; some states have high GER while some are quite behind the national GER which reflect significant imbalances within the higher education system.
• Poor Quality: 
  • Ensuring quality in higher education is amongst the foremost challenges being faced in India today.
  • A large number of colleges and universities in India are unable to meet the minimum requirements laid down by the UGC and our universities are not in a position to mark their place among the top universities of the world.
• Insufficient Infrastructure: 
  • Poor infrastructure is another challenge to the higher education  system of India particularly the institutes run by the public sector suffer from poor physical facilities and infrastructure. 
  • There are a large number of colleges which are functioning on the second or third floor of the building. On the ground or first floor there exists readymade hosieries or photocopy shops.
• Political interference: 
  • Most of the educational Institutions are owned by the political leaders, who are playing key roles in governing bodies of the Universities. 
  • They are using innocent students for their selfish means. 
  • Students organise campaigns, forget their own objectives and begin to develop their careers in politics.
• Inadequate Student-Faculty Ratio: 
  • In most of the state and central universities more than 30% of faculty positions are lying vacant. While the student enrolment in higher education is growing at a faster rate in the last few years. 
  • Large numbers of NET / PhD candidates are unemployed even though there are a lot of vacancies in higher education, these deserving candidates are then applying in other departments which is a big blow to the higher education system. 
• Accreditation: 
  • Most of the higher education institutions in the country are not accredited. And among those accredited, few universities and colleges have the quality to be ranked. 
• Research and Innovation: 
  • There are very nominal scholars in our country whose writing is cited by famous western authors. 
  • There is inadequate focus on research in higher education institutes. 
  • There are insufficient resources and facilities, as well as, limited numbers of quality faculty to advise students. 
  • Most of the research scholars are without fellowships or not getting their fellowships on time which directly or indirectly affects their research. 
  • Moreover, Indian Higher education institutions are poorly connected to research centers.
• Structure of higher education: 
  • Management of Indian education faces challenges of over centralization, bureaucratic structures and lack of accountability, transparency, and professionalism. 
  • As a result of increase in number of affiliated colleges and students, the burden of administrative functions of universities has significantly increased and the core focus on academics and research is diluted 

• Outdated Curriculum: 
  • Indian higher education is facing the problem of poor quality of curriculum. 
  • In most of the higher educational institutes curriculum is out-dated and irrelevant.
• Low employability: 
  • Only a small proportion of Indian graduates are considered employable. Placement outcomes also drop significantly as we move away from the top institutes. 
  • Presently there is very little collaboration of higher educational institutes with industries.

Suggestions

• Requires transformational approach: There is a need to implement an innovative and transformational approach from primary to higher education level to make the Indian educational system globally more relevant and competitive. 
• Greater industrial co-operation: In higher educational institutes (HEIs), Industrial co-operation must be there for the development of curriculum, organizing expert lectures, internships, live projects, career counseling and placements.
• Improve Quality & Credibility: Higher educational institutes (HEIs) need to improve quality, reputation and establish credibility through student exchange, faculty exchange programs, and other collaborations with high- quality national and international higher educational institutes. 
• Foreign Collaboration: Government must promote collaboration between Indian higher education institutes and top International institutes and also generate linkage between national research laboratories and research centers of top institutions for better quality and collaborative research. 
• Placement for under-Graduates: There is a need to focus on the graduate students by providing them such courses in which they can achieve excellence, gain deeper knowledge of the subject so that they will get jobs after recruitment in the companies which would reduce unnecessary rush to higher education. 

Way Ahead

• For India to emerge as a global innovation hub, the youth of our country, especially in higher education institutions (HEIs) need to play a crucial role to create a sustainable innovation ecosystem. 
• The Prime Minister of India has declared the decade 2010-20 as the ‘Decade of Innovation’, to unleash the creative potential of every Indian. 
• Thus, ideally all HEIs should have a comprehensive and functional mechanism to convert research into innovations.
• To improve the higher education system, there is a need to improve teaching pedagogy, build synergies between research and teaching, facilitate alliance of higher institutions among themselves, research centers and industries. 

Source: IE