A model for quality and inclusive education (GS Paper 2, Education)
Context:
The National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF), adopted by the Ministry of Education to rank institutions of higher education in India, shows a noteworthy feature of Tamil Nadu.
The Tamil Nadu experience, in congruence with the State’s motto of development with social justice, offers an important insight for other States.
Parameters:
The NIRF employs a ranking metric comprising five parameters with varying weightage to assess the quality of colleges: Teaching, Learning and Resources (40%), Graduation Outcome (25%), Research and Professional Practices (15%), Outreach and Inclusivity (10%) and Perception (10%).
Each of these parameters has several components, which again have varying weightage.
The number of colleges participating in the NIRF ranking has grown from 535 in 2017 to 1,659 in 2020, and 2,746 in 2023.
This five-fold increase notwithstanding, the participating colleges constitute only a paltry proportion of the actual number of colleges in India.
Key Highlights:
Of the top 100 NIRF-ranked colleges in 2023, Tamil Nadu has the largest share (35).
Delhi (32) comes next, followed by Kerala (14) and West Bengal (8). These four States collectively contribute to 89% of the top colleges, which speaks volumes about other regions.
Bigger States such as Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Odisha do not have a single college in the top 100.
Even the share of the other southern States is abysmal: Karnataka has two colleges, Telangana has one, and Andhra Pradesh has none. The share of Tamil Nadu (35%) is more than double the combined share of the other four southern States (17%).
Consistency:
The NIRF ranking of colleges since 2017 reveals that Tamil Nadu has been consistent as the lead contributor of top-ranking colleges in India.
Tamil Nadu retained its top position (with the exception of 2022, when Delhi was on a par with Tamil Nadu).
Though the larger pattern of four States (Tamil Nadu, Delhi, Kerala, and West Bengal) holding the larger chunk of top colleges has remained for all the years, there have been variations in the share of the rest of the States in some years.
For instance, Andhra Pradesh had one top college in both 2022 and 2021 in the ranking, whereas Karnataka’s share went up to three in 2021. Barring Gujarat and Maharashtra, the big States hardly had representation in most years.
Social Justice:
Chennai accounts for only nine (26%) colleges. Coimbatore, with an equal share, competes with Chennai quite consistently. Tiruchirappalli, with five colleges (14%), is next. The remaining 12 (out of 35) colleges are widely spread across 11 places. This broad pattern was seen in other years too.
The largest beneficiaries from Chennai, Coimbatore, and Tiruchirappalli are likely to be urban dwellers.
Yet, it is also likely that the top-ranked 23 colleges from these three cities, which belong to three different regions, might be equally serving the poor and disadvantaged social groups both from these regions as well as those contiguous to them.
This is because Tamil Nadu not only has one of the highest reservation quotas, but also has been quite effective in its implementation of the reservation policy
Thus, the colleges based out of Chennai in general and other districts in particular promote both quality and inclusion, and thereby contribute to the goal of development with social justice.
Way Forward:
This finding should prompt other southern States, which also have a reasonably inclusive and effective social welfare architecture, to introspect why they lag far behind and inspire them to take action to rectify issues.
