In a first, govt to rank medical & dental colleges

NEW DELHI: In a first, the Centre is planning to rank medical and dental colleges. The National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) of the human development resource ministry is working towards adding medical education category to the rankings this year. The rankings assume significance as performance of institutions has been linked with “Institutions of Eminence” scheme. The number of institutions participating in the rankings have risen by over 1,000 this year. The rankings are to be announced on April 2.
NIRF, in its first rankings in 2016, had four categories — universities, engineering, management and pharmacy. In 2017, overall and college categories were added. An HRD official said the final call will be taken by the National Board of Accreditation. NBA sources said that close to 100 medical and dental college have applied. In all, over 4,000 institutions have applied. Last year 3,000 institutions participated in the India Rankings 2017.

“We had received quite a few numbers of applications from the medical and dental colleges and are working on a ranking for the medical and dental colleges as well this year. The final call will depend on the National Board of Accreditation which is working on the rankings and looking at the data,” said the official.

NBA sources said that apart from the government institutions, a large number of private higher education institutions have joined the rankings this year who were not part of the process earlier.

NIRF outlines a methodology to rank institutions across the country. The methodology draws from the overall recommendations broad understanding arrived at by a core committee set up by MHRD, to identify the broad parameters for ranking various universities and institutions. The parameters broadly cover “teaching, learning and resources,” “research and professional practices,” “graduation outcomes,” “outreach and inclusivity,” and “perception”.

While one of the eligibility criteria for the applying for the “Institutions of Eminence” status is to be among the top 50 institutions in the rankings, the other schemes for higher education institutions like the graded autonomy for universities and autonomous status to colleges too were initially linked to the performance in the NIRF rankings. However, according to HRD sources, the linking has been shelved for the time being.

“The government is waiting for the rankings to settle down. It is still evolving. Thereafter the rankings could be linked to other schemes,” said the official.