10 Nov 2022 National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) 2022.
Significance for Prelims: National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF)
Significance for Mains: Myopia of high placement packages from institutions of national importance.
News: The release of the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) 2022 raises serious questions regarding engineering education in the country.
About National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF)
- NIRF ranking was launched in September 2015 for ranking colleges, universities and research institutions.
- It is released by the Ministry of Education.
- It also provides a combined overall ranking of colleges, universities and research institutions.
- Subjects domain on which institutions are ranked: Engineering, management, pharmacy, law, medical, architecture and dental.
- Initially, participation was voluntary in the NIRF, but in 2018 it was made compulsory for all government-run educational institutions.
- National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) ,2022 evaluated 4,786 institutions on five parameters i.e. teaching, learning and resources (TLR), research and professional practice, graduation outcome, outreach and inclusivity and perception.
Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s statement during the launch of NIRF, 2022:
- He calls for mandatory accreditation and assessment of every higher education institution
- All higher institutions will have to be part of the NIRF ranking system.
- He calls for the merger of the two accreditation systems i.e. National Assessment and Accreditation Council for institutional accreditation (NAAC) and the National Board of Accreditation for programmes (NBA).
- NAAC accreditation or NIRF rank is necessary to receive government funds.
- The Ministry of Education is planning for an accreditation system for schools in the country.
Key findings of NIRF, 2022 with respect to institutes of technology and engineering colleges:
- NIRF, 2022 presents disturbing scenarios regarding institutes of technology and engineering colleges.
- The best institutes in the technology and engineering colleges category scored 90.04% in the NIRF ranking. But the score of the 50th best is only 50.11% and the 100th best institute scored a mere 40.14%.
- More than 1,049 institutions applied for the ranking but got no rank and approximately 4,500 institutions did not even apply for the ranking.
- There are 5, 926 institutions approved by AICTE to offer programmes in engineering and technology. But only 1,249 (21.07%) came forward to get ranked under the NIRF in 2022.
Issues associated with engineering education:
- Cut-throat competition for admissions in top-ranking institutions: The top-ranking institutions can only accommodate 30,000 students against 11 lakh-12 lakh JEE Main exam registration. Only 2.73 % can make it into the top 100 institutions, while Only 0.9% can make it to one of the top 10 institutions.
- Misleading placement packages in premium institutions: Reported salary packages worth lakhs of rupees disregard the cost of living or purchasing power parity in the U.S.
- Placement headlines related to high packages are limited to only a minuscule number of graduates and are mostly confined to international placements in the Information Technology sector. Placement stats of premier technology institutions shows that out of 30,000 students, not more than 100 bag such offers.
- Immense stress on children: High placement package headlines trigger a mindless rat race to get students into institutions of national importance. Students chase quality institutions with assured placement and a dream package.
- Coaching Culture: The scarcity of seats in premium institutions and the dream of high packages forced parents to enrol their children on coaching for entrance tests. These robes children with their ambitions and passions.
- Loss of moral values among children: Children of tender age want to become doctors and engineers to make big money not to serve society.
- Dejection and persistent peer pressure cause anxiety, and depression and gives birth to suicidal tendencies among IIT JEE aspirants.
- Institutes of technology and engineering colleges lack the ability to deliver value for money as there are very few institutions that offer quality engineering education at an affordable cost.
Way forward and Conclusion:
- The need of the hour is improvement in the overall quality of technical higher education through mitigating the widening gap between the best and the rest.
Further reading:
- National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) system(https://yojnaias.com/national-assessment-and-accreditation-council-naac-system/)
Source: The Hindu
Articles: IIT-M ranked India’s top higher education institute; The lack of quality engineering education(Ayalur K. Bakthavatsalam, Furqan Qamar)
Article Links:
1.https://www.thehindu.com/education/iit-madras-remains-indias-best-educational-institute-education-ministry/article65643090.ece
2.https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/there-is-a-lack-of-quality-engineering-education-in-india/article65941388.ece
Yojna IAS daily current affairs eng med 10th November
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