‘Varsities need to focus on research’

‘Varsities need to focus on research’ 

Teachers are burdened with assessment work for months and the strain is showing in the university’s [MU] overall performance. PRINCIPAL, south Mumbai college

MUMBAI: Higher education institutes need to focus more on research work and publishing of patents, highlights the recently released National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) 2019 list.

The performance of many institutes shows a dip in their scores, especially in the Research, Professional Practice & Collaborative Performance (RPC) category.

The NIRF is a methodology adopted by the Union ministry of human resource development to evaluate and rank universities and institutes on parameters including teaching, learning resources and research work.

Since it participated in NIRF, the University of Mumbai (MU) managed, for the first time, to make it to the top 100 list this year — 81st rank. Last year, the university was placed in the 151200 slot as there are no ranks alloted after 100. MU officials attributed the rise in rankings to research publications and funding, patents, among other things.

According to the data in NIRF 2019, MU scored a mere 17.10 on 100 in the RPC category whereas Pune’s Savitribai Phule University has scored a 44.42 in the same category and managed to maintain its rank in the top 20 list.

“Sadly, the university is only concerned with conducting exams and announcing results. Teachers are left with barely any time to focus on research or guide students in their research work,” said the principal of a south Mumbai college.

Principals and teachers have stressed on the need for more focus on research and innovation, other than just academic performance. The University Grants Commission has also insisted that teachers’ performance should be judged by their involvement in research as well.

The Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT-B) dropped to the 4th position in this year’s NIRF rankings from the 3rd position last year. IIT-B’s score in the RPC category dropped to 84.36 on 100 this year from 96.04 last year.

“We have received the overall performance card. Once we go through the scores, we’ll know exactly what we need to focus on to better our performance,” said PV Balaji, dean, research and development, IIT-B.

Source | Hindustan Times | 10^th April 2019