Moa Jamir
Increasingly, the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) published annually by the Union Ministry of Education, is being use as a measure to gauge, among others, the standing of the Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in India. Participating institutions can also identify gaps as well as improve upon its forte.
As the ranking, constituted on September 29, 2015, and released annually thereafter, is based on five parameters- Teaching, Learning & Resources (TLR); Research and Professional Practice (RP); Graduation Outcomes (GA); Outreach and Inclusivity (OI); and Perception (P), as well as several sub-parameters, a concerned institution gets a fair idea on which parameter it is performing or underperforming and take corrective measures.
This is crucial as the lone-central University of the State – the Nagaland University (NU) which has been floundering in the ranking after its ‘best’ performance on 2018 when it was ranked 95 in the ‘University category. Thereafter, it slipped to the Rank-Band of 101-150 in 2019 and lingered in the same band in 2020. In 2021, it slipped further to Rank-Band 151-200.
The latest ‘India Rankings 2022’ under the NIRF released on July 15 informed that NU failed to improve its ranking and was slotted in the same status as last year. As noted in this column after the 2021 ranking, two things can be inferred from here: NU’s quality is either deteriorating or stagnating or other institutions must be improving faster.
As was the case in 2021, the data submitted by the NU for NIRF 2022 highlighted some significant gaps, which perhaps, is dragging down its ranking.
On the Teaching, Learning & Resources (TLR) and Graduation Outcomes (GA) parameters, the University is assumed to be performing better with ample student strength and a good faculty-student ratio, while most faculty were marked as regular with PhD. The financial resources and their utilisation (FRU) appear to be acceptable while the transition to higher education was also respectable, despite low placement records over the years.
However, NU continues to under-perform in the Research and Professional Practice (RP), with sub-parameters such as combined metric for publications (PU); combined metric for Quality of Publications IPR and Patents: Filed, Published, Granted and Licensed (IPR), and Footprint of Projects, Professional Practice and Executive Development Programs (FPPP).
As per the submission for 2022, no patent has been published from the University during the last 3 years up to 2020. The university has also not received any consultancy Projects during the last two years up to FY 2020-21s while earnings from ‘Executive Development Program/Management Development Programs’ for three financial years up to 2020-21 were given as ‘Zero’. NU did continue to receive ‘Sponsored Research’ and for 53 projects, it received Rs 5.020 crore in FY 2020-21, similar to Rs 5.14 crore it received in 2019-20.
Incidentally, NU was ranked highest in 2018, during which there were 64 projects worth Rs 8.17 crore. Ideally, the submission for 2020 was NU’s ‘best’ in terms of sponsored (74) and consultancy projects (1) worth Rs 11.17 crore and Rs 4.5 lakh respectively in FY 2018-19, but others might have caught-up leading to no improvement in the overall ranking.
Other areas of improvement could be Outreach and Inclusivity (OI), which among others, assesses Students from other states/countries and facilities for ‘physically challenged students.’ Since 2019, the NU’s answer to the question on toilets for Persons with Disabilities (PwDS) has been the standard, “Yes, more than 60% of the buildings” while it is yet to provide walking aids, including wheelchairs and transportation from one building to another for the cohort.
Notably, the NU is yet to undertake the next cycle of the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC), and ‘Re-accredited with CGPA of 2.58 (B Grade)” seems to have expired on 2019. The University answered negatively to the question of the National Board of Accreditation. It can be argued that the parameter of Perception (PR) is relative and dependent on improvement in the other parameters as well as the annual status on the ranking.
With others catching up faster coupled with non-improvement internally, there is a likelihood of the NU slipping further in the further ranking. Accordingly, those at the helms of the University’s four campuses should confer and urgently adopt corrective measures.
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