Delhi University VC blames low student-teacher ratio for slip in NIRF ranking

New Delhi, July 15

Delhi University Vice Chancellor Yogesh Singh on Friday said a low student-teacher ratio could be one of the reasons for the varsity slipping in the Ministry of Education’s National Institutional Ranking Framework 2022, even as he said the work done today will only be reflected in the next two years.

The varsity slipped by a spot to the 13th position this year. In the overall rankings as well, its position declined to 23 from 19 last year.

The seventh edition of National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) rankings was announced on Friday by Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.

The Delhi University (DU) is ranked behind city-based Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) and Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI), which bagged the second and third positions, respectively in the NIRF under the ‘university’ category.

Last year, DU was ranked 12th, while it was ranked 11th in 2020. It was at the 13th spot in 2019 and ranked seventh in the university category in 2018.

The rankings have been done in various categories like overall, universities, colleges, research institutions, among others.

DU’s Atma Ram Sanatan Dharma (ARSD) College was ranked above St. Stephen’s and Shri Ram College of Commerce (SRCC), and was among the top 10 colleges in the country.

Five DU colleges were among the top 10 colleges in the NIRF rankings with Miranda House bagging the top spot for the sixth consecutive year.

In its overall ranking, the university slipped to 23rd rank from 19th last year. In 2020, it was ranked 18th and 20th in 2019. In 2018, it had bagged the 14th rank. Five DU colleges were among the top 10 colleges in the country this year, with Hindu College improving its ranking from ninth to second this year, while Lady Shri Ram College for Women securing the fifth position from its earlier second rank.

Atma Ram Sanatan Dharma College, which was ranked 12th last year, secured its spot among the top 10 colleges in the country and was ranked seventh above Kirori Mal College (KMC), St. Stephen’s College and Shri Ram College of Commerce that are ranked tenth, eleventh and twelfth, respectively.

The Delhi University has scored 43.1 in teaching, learning and resources (TLR), a marginal improvement from last year when it had scored 42.65 in the same domain.

However, it is way behind JNU and JMI which have a TLR of 71.94 and 68.17, respectively.

Speaking to PTI, DU VC Yogesh Singh noted, “We will have to improve on the research factor. The low student-teacher ratio could be one of the reasons for the decline in rankings. We are in the process of hiring teachers, but the results will show in the next couple of years. Some changes might be visible the next year, but the actual results will only be seen in the next two years.” Talking about Delhi Technological University (DTU), where he previously served as the vice chancellor, Singh said it has improved its ranking and is now ranked 38 in the university category.

Although the varsity’s rankings have witnessed a downfall, its colleges have been performing well with Atma Ram Sanatan Dharma College being the surprise entrant in the top 10 colleges in the country.

“It is a proud moment for all of us. We are consistently doing well in the rankings. Last year, we were 12th, and the year before that, we were ranked 13th and for three years, we were 14th. It is a reward for us. Even last year, SRCC and KMC were behind us,” ARSD principal Gyantosh Jha told PTI.

Talking about the parameters where the college fared well, he said the institute has excellent graduation and research outcomes, but lagged in the perception quotient.

“We did very good in research and professional practices. We did well in TLR, but we got only 24 marks out of 100 in the perception area, an improvement from last year when we had scored 15 marks. We are trying to improve the image of the college.

“There was a time when it was considered a college for those students who could not secure admissions anywhere else in DU, but that has changed in the last five to six years. Our college is 63-years-old and we are carrying the burden of our past image,” he added.

Miranda House principal Bijayalakshmi Nanda stressed that consistency was the key to the college maintaining the numero uno position.

“We also have the guidance of DU which is more than that of other colleges since we are a constituent college of the varsity. Our governing body also comprises senior DU professors.

“We had also involved our senior faculty members (who have retired) in mentoring the current faculty. We have tried to align ourselves with the National Education Policy. We have also started looking at emphasising on skill development, incubation and research centres. We had to go online due to COVID-19. We tried our best to stimulate the environment of online classes,” she added.