Here's why Uttar Pradesh is planning to rate its nursing and paramedical institutes

The State Medical Faculty in Uttar Pradesh will carry out an annual evaluation of nursing and paramedical institutes as part of 'Mission Niramayah', which has been launched by the Yogi Adityanath government with the aim of improving Uttar Pradesh's health infrastructure and preparing more workforce for the future. As per a report by ANI, selected institutes will be evaluated on their teaching, pedagogy, availability of infrastructure and behavioural skills of the students. Assessment will be done by an independent agency and the responsibility for this task has been entrusted to the Quality Council of India (QCI).

QCI has already developed a comprehensive online self-assessment form in collaboration with technical partners of medical education, reported ANI. This form will be filled and submitted online by all the institutes, after which the QCI team will physically assess all the institutes across the state and on the basis of the same, the final rating will be started by the end of the first quarter of 2023.

'Mission Niramayah' was launched on October 22 to strengthen the medical sector and increase the capacity of health workers. Through this mission, efforts are being made to work together with nursing and paramedical institutions to improve the quality of medical education, reported ANI. Principal Secretary of UP's Medical Education Department, Alok Kumar, told ANI that this step will enable prospective nursing and paramedical students to choose a quality institute with the help of the ratings of the institutions. Additionally, it will aid in identifying the areas where these institutions need to strengthen, he said.

According to Alok Kumar, in order to improve the standard of institutes throughout the state, the institutes that are doing below average would be mentored by the institutes which are performing better. "Any institution that wants to reevaluate itself once rectification is made may do so whenever it wants for a maximum of three years at its own expense." 

Special Secretary of the Medical Education Department Durga Shakti Nagpal told ANI that this step would go a long way in creating an institutional framework for continuous quality improvement among nursing and paramedical institutions. "We will continue our initiatives and efforts under Mission Niramayah to create such an environment and system where these institutions will be able to improve as well as raise their standards. The complete process of rating is registered in the form of rating guidelines which can be downloaded from the official website of the State Medical Faculty," she said, according to ANI.