51 Karnataka professional colleges figure in NIRF list

51 Karnataka professional colleges figure in NIRF list

SruthySusan.Ullas@timesgroup.com

Bengaluru:26.02.2021 

As many as 51 professional institutions from Karnataka figure among Top 100 in their respective categories published by the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF), the system introduced by the ministry of education, for the year 2020. The state fares well in the universities ranking too.

However, only one undergraduate college from Karnataka, which has the highest college density in the country, figures among Top100. The NIRF ranks institutions under 10 categories: College, university, engineering, management, pharmacy, medical, law, architecture, dental and overall.

ON NIRF LIST

Five K’taka institutions figure in overall top 100

From Karnataka, nine engineering and seven medical colleges and 11 universities figured among top institutions in respective categories. Five Karnataka institutions figured in the overall top 100.

A report published by academicians G Srinivas and S Salil in the February 25 edition of ‘Current Science’ of Indian Academy of Sciences, analysed the state-wise spread of top 100 colleges in the country and pointed out that the spread of quality education is highly skewed.

St Joseph’s College of Commerce, Bengaluru, ranked 72nd, is the only institute from the state among the top 100. The state has 3,670 colleges, and 105 of them applied for NIRF. Three states — Delhi, Tamil Nadu and Kerala — together account for 81 of the top 100 colleges, indicating the magnitude of the skew. Tamil Nadu has 32 of them; except one, all are autonomous. Colleges from 12 states don’t figure in the list.

Karnataka’s saviours are 51 professional colleges which figure in top 100 lists. Engineering colleges from Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Goa and Delhi account for most of the top 100 institutions in the category.

Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra make up for 42% of the total number of universities in the top 100 in 2020. Representation from Gujarat and Rajasthan is negligible, even though they

are home to 74 and 85 universities, respectively. Many states like Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh have no universities in top 100.

Deemed-to-be universities and central universities have proportionately higher presence, with state universities making for only 10% of the total list. The analysis said the reason for the skew may be difference in data-management practices in institutions, inclination to enter into ranking exercises, data-validation methods, private sector driving the regional competition or a difference in the real quality.

NIRF participation is high towards the south, making the authors infer that regional competition drives ranking as a competitive marketing tool. Uttar Pradesh has 7,078 colleges, the highest in the country. Yet, participation in NIRF from the state is one of the lowest. No institution from this state features in the list of top 100 colleges.

Karnataka has high participation rate of colleges in NIRF, with professional institutions figuring in the list. This points out that higher education is skewed towards professional education. Karnataka’s growth in professional education in the 1980s and 1990s was not emulated in arts and science colleges, the authors said.

The analysis pointed out that Maharashtra and Karnataka -- despite having national institutions to their credit and high college enrolment figures -- need urgent and simultaneous intervention for quality upgradation.