For the eighth consecutive year, none of Odisha's autonomous colleges have made it to the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF), stated a report in The New Indian Express.
If sources are to be believed, while no autonomous colleges participated in the NIRF, only three affiliated/constituent colleges took part in the ranking process this year but could not bag a score.
Academicians said despite their popularity among students for academic excellence, all autonomous colleges are aware that they do not fulfill the basic criteria of national assessment and hence, do not participate. "Also, as most of the principals of these colleges are in the post for a short tenure (six months to three years), they take little interest in getting a national grade for the institution and improving its visibility," said a vice-chancellor, requesting anonymity.
There are 1,024 degree colleges in the state. Of this, the number of government-run autonomous colleges has come down to 13 after DD (Autonomous) College in Keonjhar and Vikram Dev (Autonomous) College of Koraput were converted into universities. Last year, 11 affiliated colleges had participated in the ranking system but none secured a rank.
What are the NIRF parameters
The NIRF methodology identifies broad parameters of teaching, learning and resources, research and professional practices, graduation outcomes, outreach and inclusivity, and perception for ranking the institutions. Among this, the most important factor for ranking is tracking a student's progression as far as higher education and employment (including salary per annum) is concerned.
In Odisha, no college is tracking how many of its students in an academic year are getting placed or being selected for higher studies whereas many other states are doing so.
Lack of faculty members, the biggest bottleneck
Academicians said while the state government recently promoted 120 faculty members to higher ranks making some eligible for principal posts, the faculty crisis is the biggest roadblock that colleges continue to face. Most of the teachers in colleges are guest faculty and their research output cannot be counted for NIRF.
Officials in the department said while teacher recruitment is an ongoing process, the autonomous colleges are being regularly conditioned by the Odisha Higher Education Council to secure NAAC (National Assessment and Accreditation Council) accreditation and participate in the NIRF ranking. "We are even thinking of punitive measures against these colleges now if they do not take part in NIRF," they added.
Besides, an e-SAMARTH system is currently being put in place to track the students' and faculty members' academic and employment lifecycle.
