Ranking the rankings: Parameters under scrutiny as public-funded universities in Punjab slip in NIRF rankings while private varsities see a rise

Chandigarh

It is that time of year again. The NIRF (National Institutional Ranking Framework) rankings of the Union Ministry of Education are out, and there are few surprises in Punjab. Universities funded by the state government are either not on the list or continue on the downward slide, while private universities maintain their high slots. The latest rankings, however, have led to a chorus of criticism centred around one basic question — are there more effective methods of evaluating higher education institutions and assessing the value of a degree?

The oldest university of the region, Panjab University (PU) in Chandigarh, is ranked 60th, down from 44 last year. It was ranked 38 in 2021 and 41 in 2022. The university is funded in the 60:40 per cent ratio by the Centre and the Punjab government.

Established in 1969, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, does not feature on the list at all. A university spokesperson clarifies that it did not apply for the NIRF evaluation since it had got a good ranking from the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC), established in 1994 as an autonomous institution of the University Grants Commission (UGC).

Founded in 1962, Punjabi University, Patiala, has not featured on the NIRF list of the top 100 institutes for the past four years.

The one bright spot, as per the NIRF, is Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, which continues to maintain its third spot among the agricultural and allied sectors across the country.

It’s the private institutions in the state that feature prominently in the list. The top rank holder in Punjab is Chandigarh University, Mohali. It is ranked 32nd in the overall evaluation. Thapar Institute of Engineering and Technology, Patiala, is placed 43rd. Lovely Professional University, Jalandhar, is ranked 45th. Chitkara University in Mohali is in the list of 100-150.

State Education Minister Harjot Singh Bains, however, gives top billing to the government-funded universities. “Our state universities are highly ranked by the NAAC. There can be no comparison on the standard of education in private universities and state universities. Our academic standards are very high. Just by way of example, all the state universities have long waiting lists for student admission while it’s a walk-in experience in the private universities,” he says.

Known for plainspeak, the former Vice-Chancellor of Punjabi University, Prof Arvind, says the NIRF scheme is “fundamentally flawed and ill-motivated”. It should be abandoned, he feels. “With the UGC giving grants only to those universities that appear in the first 100 in the NIRF ranking, this scheme is flawed in two ways. On the one hand, this is a hidden way to cut overall grants to higher education, and on the other, the universities with lower ranks may need the grants more. Parameters such as how many teaching positions are lying vacant are a direct consequence of government policies and have nothing to do with the performance of the university,” he says.

Prof Arvind adds: “It is important to come up with an alternative ranking scheme. The new ranking scheme should focus on more meaningful parameters — does the university address the educational needs of underprivileged sections of society, including first-generation learners, women from remote rural backgrounds, economically backward and other backward castes, etc? I am sure if this new ranking scheme is applied, the NIRF scheme will be turned completely upside down and the current low-ranking universities will appear at the top.”

Rajya Sabha MP Satnam Singh Sandhu, Chancellor of the top-ranked Chandigarh University, claims that the “one big catch for the consistent improvement in our ranking is keeping our courses updated in sync with the job requirements of students. Digital technology in education to meet the current work scenario is central for us. We need to be updating every hour”.

Professor Emeritus Bhupinder Brar, former Dean University Instruction at PU, insists that private and public institutions should not be compared at all. “It is like comparing apples and oranges. All public-funded universities are resource-crunched. We are working at one-third of the sanctioned strength of the faculty and things just cannot work out for the universities under the existing fee structure,” he points out.

Prof HK Puri, a leading academic who retired from GNDU, seconds his view. “There is no sense in the NIRF assessment when state, Central and private universities are working in absolutely different environments. Most universities are working with less than half the staff strength. There is no fresh hiring while the student strength has gone up three times. How is normal teaching possible? The Centre and states are, in fact, criminally neglecting the education sector. Surprisingly, even the Opposition is not reacting to the Centre allocating a mere 2 per cent of its budget to education, and even lesser to health,” he says.

Prof BS Ghuman, former Vice-Chancellor of Punjabi University, says that “Central universities, including Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi University, Jamia Millia Islamia, Banaras Hindu University and Aligarh Muslim University, are performing well because they don’t face acute financial crises. Most of the funds in state universities are spent on salary, pension and retirement benefits and only meagre funds are left for research and upgradation of academic infrastructure. The faculty members are retiring but vacant positions are not filled for want of funds”.

Prof Ghuman lists another critical gap. The knowledge system, he says, “is changing with the speed of thinking. State universities have a lengthy and time-consuming decision-making process to introduce new courses and change the curricula. In contrast, private universities are very prompt in making decisions with regard to their courses, which are market and industry-driven, and hence private universities have a better placement record”.

He says private universities also have an edge on account of the outreach and inclusivity parameter of NIRF rankings, as the percentage of students from other states and countries is much higher.

Prof Akshaya Kumar of the Department of English and Cultural Studies at Panjab University says, “It is difficult to beat private players as they are very good at managing data. Traditional universities are facing a serious crises of faculty shortage. A sizeable number of departments are working with a mere 10 per cent strength. The research profile of the universities has taken a serious beating. Quantity has overtaken quality.”

He adds: “When I joined the department in 1998, there were 22 teachers, now we are down to six. In the French Department, there is zero faculty, and research scholars are managing teaching. The impact on the ground is that the university no longer remains the first choice of good students. Some of them even prefer to go to colleges because there the faculty is reasonably good. In all such rankings, the teacher-taught ratio is very important, and we at PU suffer badly on this count.”

Prof M Rajivlochan, a member of the State Higher Education Council and formerly director of the Internal Quality Assurance Cell at Panjab University, says, “PU’s strength lay in its nature as a research university. Most of the major science research done after Independence came out of PU. That was achieved despite the university being located in a politically sensitive region, being always short of funds and with many vacancies among the faculty. However, over the past few decades, the adverse impact of these factors began to come forth, and the research output declined.”

Prof Rajivlochan adds: “In the latest NIRF survey, PU is seen struggling even at the level of research output. Even our Pharmacy Department has languished this time. The way out is loud and clear. It has been made crystal clear by many Vice-Chancellors in the past, especially Prof Arun Grover and Prof RC Sobti. Recruit more faculty. It might also help if PU were to be delinked with Punjab. The state’s contribution to PU has been adverse.”

For CU Chancellor Sandhu, the steady forward march of private institutions is the result of well-thought-out strategies. He says, “We have been rigorously adopting the global academic model and since 2020, our teaching learning process has been strictly based on the New Education Policy, which is flexible, transparent and student-centric. Chandigarh University has established a corporate advisory board to maintain a rich industry-academia interface, through which we have been getting regular inputs to update the course curriculum and the teaching-learning pedagogy. Our focus remains on developing industry-oriented skills and starting courses in emerging areas such as Artificial Intelligence, cloud computing, big data and analytics.”

Founder Chancellor of LPU Dr Ashok Kumar Mittal, also a Rajya Sabha MP, says Lovely Professional University has “worked diligently on all parameters that the NIRF focuses on. From research, student outcomes, cultural activities, sports, placements, consultancy projects and infrastructure to ensuring student diversity, LPU has put in a concerted effort. Many of LPU’s students have been placed in top companies”.

Pro Chancellor, Chitkara University, Dr Madhu Chitkara, says, “Our significant rise in the NIRF rankings across various categories over the past five years reflects our focused strategy and execution. We’ve invested heavily in infrastructure, creating state-of-the-art research labs and equipping these with the latest technology. This enables an environment where both the students and the faculty can push the boundaries of knowledge and innovation.”

As the ranking issue triggers a debate, research scholar Navkiran Natt questions the need of NIRF when the universities are NAAC-accredited. “There is an error in judging private and public universities on the same platform. Aiming for rankings is a marketing strategy of private universities only for getting more business,” he feels.

If the intention of the NIRF is to create healthy competition among peer universities and colleges, experts feel the parameters need an urgent review, along with data accuracy. Allegations routinely surface of incorrect numbers being reported, and a focus on quantity over quality in research papers.

On the GNDU campus, some faculty members claim the university did not qualify for the NIRF ranking exercise this year, and hence decided to stay out. Teachers have submitted a representation about the working conditions, vacancies and dilapidated infrastructure to the Governor, who is also the Chancellor of the university. For the students and faculty of public-funded education institutions in Punjab, it is one intervention that would be welcomed.

Ranking categories

The National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) is a ranking methodology approved by the Ministry of Education on September 29, 2015. Institutions are ranked under 11 different categories — overall, university, colleges, engineering, management, pharmacy, law, medical, architecture, dental and research.

Ranking Methodology

Teaching, Learning & Resources (0.30)

• Student strength (20)
• Faculty: student ratio (25)
• Faculty with PhD (20)
• Financial resources & utilisation (20)
• Online education (10)
• Multiple entry/exit, Indian knowledge system and regional languages (5)

Research & Professional Practice (0.30)

• Publications (30)
• Citations (30)
• Patents (15)
• Research projects (15)
• Publication & citation in SDGs (10)

Graduation Outcome (0.20)

• Placement & higher studies (40)
• University examinations (15)
• Median salary (25)
• PhD students (20)

Outreach and Inclusivity (0.10)

• Region diversity (30)
• Women diversity (30)
• Economically and socially challenged students (20)
• Physically challenged students (20)

Perception (0.10)

• Peer perception: Academic peers & employers (100)