The latest National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) report card for higher education institutions has laid bare the poor performance of colleges and universities in the Union Territory, former MP Mr Ramadass said on Tuesday.
In a statement, Ramadass pointed out that according to the NIRF results, released by Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan in Delhi, out of all 11 categories of institutions, only Jipmer made the list. of the top 100 institutions in the country – a bottom tiered rank of 54 with a score of 49.71 compared to the top IIT-Madras ranking with its score of 87.59.
Even the Central University of Pondicherry, supposed to be an institution of excellence, could not make the top 100, he said. The consolation was that the University found a place in the list of top 100 universities with a ranking of 68 and a score of 44.95 compared to the first Indian Institute of Science with a score of 83.57, said the former deputy.
It is disheartening to see that its rank fell from 58 in 2021 to 68 in 2022. To put the fall into perspective, it can be recalled that the University of Pondicherry was ranked 13 with 74.74 points in 2016, he added. . In the new NIRF report, the well-resourced Central University lagged far behind even reputable universities, Ramadass said.
In the medical school category, Jipmer ranked 6th in the country with 67.64 points compared to the first AIIMS with 91.6 points – an improvement from his previous ranking of 8th in 2021. Mahatma Gandhi Medical College and Research Institute reached 47th with 48.05 points.
Engineering schools did the worst, as their lowest ranks revealed, Ramadass said. None of the engineering schools, including the National Institute of Technology and the Technological University of Pondicherry, found a place among the top 100. Both schools are in the 101-200 ranking bracket.
Dr. Ambedkar Law College, which will be upgraded into a law school according to the Chief Minister, does not find its place in the comprehensive list of ranked law schools in the country for reasons best known to the Ministry of Education of the Union, Mr. says Ramadass.
In the Colleges of Arts and Sciences category, among the 20 colleges in the Union Territory, Kanchi Mamunivar Center for Post Graduate Studies ranked 80 with a score of 53.48 and Mahatma Gandhi Arts College, Mahé , 99th with 52.16 points. Bharathidasan College for Women is in the 151-200 bracket.
“This finding, while disheartening, is consistent with the assessment of colleges by the National Council for Assessment and Accreditation (NAAC) which has classified most colleges of arts and sciences as Grade B institutions. No institution in the dental, management and research category of Pondicherry could be on the ranking list,” said Mr. Ramadass.
The government should undertake a broad assessment of these institutions to identify and address the factors that impede the achievement of excellence. In line with the spirit of the New Education Policy reforms, his suggestions were to transform the Kanchi Mamunivar Center for Post Graduate Studies into a state university, to grant Deemed University status to the Bharathidasn College for Women and to establish community colleges in Pondicherry. and Karikal.
He also called for higher spending on higher education and infrastructure building, addressing long-standing college faculty issues, and insisting on accountability and autonomy at all levels. The overhaul would also require introducing courses with a good mix of liberal and competence-based knowledge, encouraging innovative research on relevant social themes, establishing internal quality cells in each college and introducing a teacher evaluation system by students and to analyze feedback, said Mr. said Ramadass.
