An analysis of NIRF rankings for 2021 with special focus on Southern States

An analysis of NIRF rankings for 2021 with special focus on Southern States

Though there are flaws in the methodology of  NIRF rankings done by MHRD,we cannot ignore the ranks as it is being done by MHRD and more importantly now linked to fundings by the agencies. I made some interesting observations on the top 100 rankings.

• Nearly one third of colleges ( 33 ) are from Tamil Nadu.
• Kerala has 19 colleges in the list.Though the number remains the same, few colleges  could not retain their positions this year and new entrants, particularly government colleges could make it.
• These 2 southern states account for 50% of colleges in the list
• All the southern states are having at least one college in the top 100.
• But no city can come nearer to Delhi which has 28 colleges with 5 colleges in top 10. They have done reasonably  well in Perception and this alone has helped them to get top ranks.
• Next best cities are Chennai and Coimbatore with 8 colleges each.
• Trivandrum ( 3), Ernakulam (4), Kolkata ( 3)  and Trichy ( 4) are the other major cities with more colleges.
• Thus, 3 cities in Tamil Nadu account for 20 colleges out of 33 colleges.
• There are 11 government colleges, out of which 5 are in Tamil Nadu and 4 in Kerala
• Acharya Narendra Dev College,New Delhi has top score in TLR with a score of 80.03
• Loyola college,Chennai  has top score in RPC with a score of 97.77.
• Rama Krishna Mission Vivekananda Centenary College,West Bengal has scored 94.91  in GO.
• In OI,Shri Ram College of Commerce ,Delhi has the top score of 77.24.
• Loyala college,Chennai has the distinction of scoring 100 out of 100 in Perception.
• Miranda House and Lady Shri Ram college for women,Delhi, the first and second rank holders have no  highest score in any parameter. In fact, Lady Shri ram college has scored only 14.56 in RPC and yet managed to get the second rank.
• Presidency college,Chennai is the top Government college in the country ( I am a proud alumnus of Presidency).
• For the second year in succession,University College, Thiruvananthapuram is the top ranked college in Kerala.
• Semi urban colleges like Bishop Moore College, Mavellikara and Mar Thoma college,Tiruvalla, S.B. College, Changanacherry and Mar Athanasius College,Kothamangalam are in the list and it is a commendable performance by them.
• Mar Ivanios College, Thiruvananthapuram has the top score in PRC in Kerala.They have done reasonably well in 4 parameters. In fact, if they can improve their score in perception by another 10 points, they will be in top 15 colleges in the country.
• Rajagiri school of social sciences, the college with the highest score of 3.83 in the country under the NAAC accreditation process got 31^st rank whereas University college ,Trivandrum got 25^th rank.
• Nirmala college, Muvattupuzha another college with A++ could come only in 100-150 ranks.
• This shows that there is no correlation between NIRF rankings and NAAC score as methodologies are different.
• There are 4 government colleges from Kerala in top 100.Government College for Women, Thiruvananthapuram has done well to get 46^th rank just below Mar Ivanios college and St.Tresa’s college just by a difference of 0.01 or 0.02. The other government colleges also have done well and will get top ranks if they can improve their score a little in RPC and Perception.
• Many colleges in Kerala have scored poorly in PRC and Perception.
• Though,Bishop Kurialacherry College For Women, Kottayam has scored only 4.75 in RPC and a zero in perception, they got 89^th rank which shows that you have to do well in at least 3 parameters to get into top 100.

Finally, on a personal note, I am an alumnus of as many as 4 colleges in the list.

• Presidency college,Chennai – M.Sc. Zoology.-7^th rank.
• St.Joseph’s college,Trichy. – PUC. – 27^th rank.
• Bishop Heber college,Trichy- B.Sc. Zoology- 43^rd rank
• Jamal Mohamed College,Trichy.-Ph.D.-65^th rank.

Dr. R. Selvam

Mentor, IPSR Academix. Consultant for NAAC Accreditation Process & External Academic Auditor. Former Head of Zoology Dept. & Former Coordinator of Molecular Biosciences Dept. Resource person for UGC sponsored workshops on Immunological techniques and Accreditation Workshops. Member of Board of studies in Bharathiyar, Periyar and Bharathidasan Universities.