New Delhi: The Indian Institute of Technology-Madras has been ranked first among all educational institutes in the country in the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) for the sixth consecutive year.
The Union education ministry released the ninth edition of the NIRF Monday, ranking higher education institutes in 16 categories, an increase from 13 in 2023.
In the ‘overall’ category, IIT-Madras, IISc Bengaluru, IIT-Bombay, IIT-Delhi, IIT-Kanpur, IIT-Kharagpur, AIIMS Delhi, IIT-Roorkee, IIT-Guwahati, and Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) ranked among the top-10 educational institutes.
Union Minister for Education Dharmendra Pradhan released the NIRF 2024 Monday. The ministry received 10,885 applications in 2024 compared to 8,686 in 2023 and 7,254 in 2022.
IIT-Madras director V. Kamakoti said the top ranking of his institute reflects its efforts to make a mark as a global leader in research and education. “This is also the ninth consecutive year when we have topped in the ‘engineering’ category, and one thing that we have realised is that it is a very collective effort… unlike other ranking systems in the world, NIRF captures things the institute needs to do for the country,” he said.
“Being a public-funded higher education, we have certain social responsibilities — be it in research, maintaining gender equality, or making education inclusive and affordable. To reach the top, one has to focus on each of these parameters,” he added.
Among colleges, Hindu College, under Delhi University, achieved the top ranking for the first time, with Miranda House, which has been the top college for the last seven years, taking the second spot.
Hindu College principal Anju Srivastava said the college has continuously tried to achieve excellence in academics and the overall development of students. “We have scaled up in efforts to involve students in internships, research at the undergraduate level and projects beyond the curriculum. That has reflected in our rankings this year,” she said.
Six of the top 10 ‘colleges’ are from Delhi University — Hindu College (1), Miranda House (2), St Stephens College (3), Atma Ram Sanatan Dharma College (5), Kirori Mal College (9) and Lady Shri Ram College (10).
Also read: NCERT replaces cartoon on coalition govts in Class 12 book with box on India’s success as democracy
IISc top science university, IIM-Ahmedabad best B-school
Many other institutes also retained their top rank under various categories such as ‘university’, ‘college’, ‘engineering’, ‘management’, ‘pharmacy’, ‘law’, ‘medical’, ‘architecture’, ‘dental’, ‘research’, ‘agriculture’, and ‘innovation’.
The three new categories in 2024 were ‘open university’, ‘skill university’, and ‘state-funded government university’.
IISc Bengaluru emerged as the top ‘university’ for the ninth consecutive year, while the Indian Institute of Management (IIM)-Ahmedabad remained the best ‘management’ institute for the sixth year.
AIIMS Delhi topped among ‘medical’ institutes for the ninth year and Bengaluru’s National Law School of India University among ‘law’ colleges for the seventh consecutive year.
IIM-Ahmedabad director Bharat Bhasker said the institute is committed to upholding the highest standards in education and research.
“This accolade underscores the exceptional education and pioneering research conducted by our faculty, which profoundly influences business and public policy,” he said.
“While we take pride in this achievement, it fuels our determination to consistently pursue excellence in all our endeavours and contribute significantly to India’s growth narrative,” he added.
IIT-Bombay topped the ‘innovation’ category and Indian Agriculture Research Institute, Delhi, ranked first among all ‘agriculture’ institutes, while Jamia Hamdard, New Delhi, emerged as the top-most ‘pharmacy’ institute.
In the three new categories, Anna University, Chennai, was the best ‘state-funded government university’, IGNOU topped the ‘open university’ category, and Symbiosis Skills and Professional University, Pune, emerged as the top-most ‘skill university’.
Also read: Tense silence at TISS Mumbai as admin serves nearly dozen PhD students notice to vacate hostel
Ranking parameters for NIRF
The educational institutes were scored on five parameters to rank them in the ‘overall’ category — ‘teaching, learning, and resources’; ‘research and professional practice’; ‘graduation outcomes’; ‘outreach and inclusivity’; and ‘perception’.
For each parameter, the highest score was 100 marks.
Under the ‘teaching, learning, and resources’ parameter, the NIRF looked at factors such as faculty-student ratio, student strength, and faculty with PhDs. The number of patents published and granted, the quality of publications, and the projects and professional practices came under ‘research and professional practice’. The metrics of university exams and the number of PhD graduates came under ‘graduation outcomes’.
‘Outreach and inclusivity’ covered representation of students from other states and countries, percentage of women students and those from economically and socially disadvantaged backgrounds.
Besides, NIRF also considered the ‘perception’ of academic peers and employers.
On Monday, the ministry announced it would include a new parameter — sustainability — next year, considering the G20 Mission LiFE (Lifestyle for Environment).
Concentration of PhD faculty
Like last year, the NIRF report again raised concerns that faculty with doctoral qualifications is concentrated in the top 100 institutes while remaining institutes have fewer faculty with PhD.
“This is a serious handicap since mentorship received during the doctoral training as a teaching assistant can play a vital role in preparing the faculty for a teaching career in higher education,” the report said.
It further observed that faculty with PhD in the top 100 institutes varies from a minimum of 62.98 percent in the case of colleges to a maximum of 93.45 percent in the case of management institutes. The faculty with PhD in institutes ranked under 100 varies from a minimum of 32.3 percent in pharmacy institutes to a maximum of 67.55 percent in the case of universities.
“Average number of faculty in the top 100 institutions vary from minimum of 36 and 48 in case of Pharmacy and Management to the maximum of 722 and 665 in case of Universities and Overall categories respectively as opposed to the minimum of 15 and 26 in case of Management and Pharmacy to the maximum of 255 in case of Universities (sic),” the report added.
The NIRF report also raised similar concerns over the concentration of highly cited publications and patents granted and published among the top 100 institutes.
(Edited by Madhurita Goswami)
Also read: Karnataka assembly passes resolution opposing NEET, joins Tamil Nadu & West Bengal