The Ministry of Education released the NIRF (National Institutional Ranking Framework) 2021 on Thursday, The University of Delhi ranked 12th-falling from 11th last year- behind Jawaharlal Nehru University(JNU) and Jamia Millia Islamia(JMI), which have bagged the second and sixth positions respectively. PC Joshi, DU’s acting vice-chancellor commented on Delhi University’s Rank saying that the low teacher-student ratio may be the reason for DU’s slip.

Joshi told the PTI, “The reason for the slip in the rankings is the low score in teacher-student ratio. There are around 850 posts lying vacant in the university and while other universities were able to recruit, we were not able to. It has been taken by the education minister on mission mode and he said all universities should carry out recruitments.”

An analysis report released by the Hindustan Times reveals possible reasons for DU’s ranking this year: Lack of enough permanent teachers leading to a low teacher-student ratio; fewer faculty with PhD experience; poor utilisation of financial resources and assistance for economically and socially challenged students; and fewer patents and research project outputs.

University officials also said that due to the lengthy nature of the recruitment process and red tape, the number of teachers appointed during the previous University administration was low. Joshi took over as acting vice-chancellor in October last year and has recruited 44 teachers so far.

As a solution to the problem, DU has been appointing ad hoc teachers on a contract basis, renewable after every four months. Currently, they number about 4,100 and constitute nearly 40% of the university’s teaching strength of around 10,000 – way higher than the limit of 10% set by the government.

Launched by the ministry of human resource development (now ministry of education) in 2016, NIRF is a framework to rank higher education institutions across the country based on parameters of teaching-learning and resources (30% weightage), research and professional practices (30%), graduation outcomes (20%), outreach and inclusivity (10%), and perception (10%).

DU has a combined score of 25.01 out of 80 points under the three sub-categories of faculty-student ratio with emphasis on permanent faculty (FSR), combined metric for Faculty with PhD (or equivalent) and Experience (FQE), and Financial Resources and their Utilisation (FRU). This score is low compared to Jamia’s 47.45 and JNU’s 50.7 in the same sub-categories.

The University has scored 42.65 in teaching, learning and resources (TLR), way behind JNU (71.19) and Jamia Millia Islamia (66.44).

In the outreach and inclusivity parameter, which looks at diversity in terms of gender and students from other states and countries; facilities for physically challenged students and economically challenged students, DU scored 59.59 points out of 100 while JNU and Jamia scored 73.36 and 72.35 points, respectively.

However, in the research and professional practice category, NIRF scores indicate that DU has more publications, citations, patents, and output-oriented projects than both JNU and Jamia. However, all three universities have scored abysmally low in the patents and output-oriented subcategories — their scores are in the range of four to seven points out of 30.

The NIRF Ranking 2021 has five of the top 10 colleges of Delhi University in the ranking. Miranda House continued to retain the first rank for the fifth year in a row, followed by Lady Shri Ram College For Women which secured rank two for the second year in a row.

ALSO READ: NIRF RANKING 2021: 5 Delhi University Colleges in top 10

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The NIRF Ranking 2021 was released on September 09 by Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. Miranda House continued to retain the first rank for the fifth year in a row, followed by Lady Shri Ram College For Women which secured rank two for the second year in a row.

The National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) was approved by the MHRD and launched by the Minister of Human Resource Development on September 29, 2015. Educational quality is measured in Universities, Colleges, and other educational institutions across the country according to the following parameters.

Parameters

• Teaching, Learning & Resources (TLR)
• Research and Professional Practice (RP)
• Graduation Outcomes (GO)
• Outreach and Inclusivity (OI)
• Peer Perception

The two most elite DU colleges – Hindu College and St Stephen’s College – have seen a significant drop in their rankings. Hindu’s rank has fallen from 3 in 2020 to 9 this year, Stephen’s has dropped from rank 4 to rank 8. Hansraj College which was at rank 9 last year has been pushed out of the top 10 list with its ranking falling to 14.

The ranking of NIRF is done in ten categories: Engineering, Universities, Colleges, Architecture, Medical, Management, Law, Pharmacy, and Dental colleges are there.

NIRF RANKING 2021

Top five NIRF Rankings of colleges in India 2021

• Miranda House
• Lady Shri Ram College for Women
• Loyola College
• St Xavier’s College, Kolkata
• Ramakrishna Mission Vidyamandira, Howrah

Bijayalaxmi Nanda, Miranda House’s Principal, said,  “It’s very motivating to be recognised. We have consistently worked on these parameters and tried to improve. It’s not just about ranking but also about improving teaching-learning. We have tried to keep the legacy of democratic decision-making going in the college, and our win is due to the spirit of cooperation not competition. This is a win for DU.”

The principal of LSR, Suman Sharma, credited the achievement to the teachers, students and the governing body of the college.

NIRF Ranking 2021: Top 10 DU Colleges

• Miranda House
• Lady Shri Ram College For Women
• St. Stephen College
• Hindu College
• Shri Ram College of Commerce
• Sri Venkateswara College
• Atma Ram Sanatan Dharm College
• Deen Dayal Upadhyaya College
• Hans Raj College
• Gargi College

Anju Srivastava, principal of the Hindu College said she was not sure why the college’s ranking fell. Hindu’s score has dropped from 70.44 last year to 66.51 this year, whereas Stephen’s score dropped from 69.67 to 66.71 this year. Both the colleges have seen a drop in scores in all five parameters, with a significant drop in the score of graduation outcomes.

“We are still trying to analyse what led to the drop because there has not been any change from our end. We’re trying to see which are the weak areas where we need to improve. One thing that does seem to have impacted the rankings is teacher-student ratio, which is not very good,” said Srivastava.

Hansraj College has dropped from 67.23 last year to 64.65 last year, with scores dropping in all parameters except RPC. Stephen’s principal John Varghese and Hansraj College principal Rama did not respond to queries regarding fall in rankings.

CHECK OUT: Scholarship opportunities for DU students

The Shri Ram College of Commerce (SRCC) which had fallen out of the top 10 colleges list last year by getting rank 12, has climbed up once again by securing rank 10.

“We have done well in research outcomes and graduation outcomes. The latter of which is determined to a large extent by student placements. Our research score is still lower than some other colleges because we are a Commerce college and Science colleges do better in research. This is also affecting our ranking. We have been requesting, therefore, that there should be streamwise ranking which will put us much higher on the list,” said SRCC principal Simrit Kaur.

Top 5 India Rankings 2021: Overall

• Indian Institute of Technology Madras
• Indian Institute of Science Bengaluru
• Indian Institute of Technology Bombay
• Indian Institute of Technology Delhi
• Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur

Top 5 India Rankings 2021: University

• Indian Institute of Science Bengaluru
• Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi
• Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi
• Calcutta University, Kolkata
• Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Coimbatore

Top 5 India Rankings 2021: Engineering

• Indian Institute of Technology Madras
• Indian Institute of Technology Delhi
• Indian Institute of Technology Bombay
• Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur
• Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur

Top 5 India Rankings 2021: Management

• Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad
• Indian Institute of Management Bangalore
• Indian Institute of Management Calcutta
• Indian Institute of Management Kozhikode
• Indian Institute of Technology Delhi

Top 5 India Rankings 2021: Law

• National Law School of India University
• National Law University
• Nalsar University of Law
• The West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences
• Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur

ALSO READ: Deadline for MPhil PhD Thesis Submission Extended by 6 Months: UGC

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The University Grants Commission (UGC) has announced the extension of the deadline for MPhil and PhD thesis submission for scholars by six months. The fresh extension which has been granted will enable MPhil (Master of Philosophy) and PhD (Doctor of Philosophy) candidates to submit their thesis by December 31, 2021.

The UGC notification undersigned by its secretary Rajnish Jain read, “Considering a large number of requests and also keeping in view the larger interest of the research scholars, the extension given for submission of M.Phil/Ph.D thesis till 31st December, 2021 shall also be applicable to all such students whose due date of submission of M.Phil/Ph.D thesis is on or before 31.12.2021”

The tenure of fellowship will remain up to five years only. The UGC has extended the deadline for the submission of a thesis by scholars three times since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic and enforcement of lockdown in March 2020.

Earlier the deadline was December 2020 which was then extended to 30 June. With the fresh extension, now scholars will get time till December 31, 2021, to submit their thesis.

Recently, the University Grants Commission (UGC) allowed 11 more universities to offer recognised Open and Distance Learning (ODL) programmes from July 2021. The decision was taken based on Standing Appellate Committee Meeting (SAC) held on June 30, 2021, and July 1, 2021.

ALSO READ: Delhi University to Reopen in Phased Manner from September 15

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The University of Delhi recently announced the reopening of the colleges, departments and centres affiliated with the University in a phased manner. Classes will be continued online and as well as offline. Practical classes for final year students pursuing Undergraduate(UG) and Postgraduate(PG) courses from DU and affiliated colleges will commence from September 15. However, theory classes will be conducted online till further notice.

Delhi University has also allowed Department and college libraries to reopen. The decision has been taken by the DU administration following guidelines issued by the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA).

CHECK OUT UGC GUIDELINES HERE 

CHECK OUT DDMA GUIDELINES HERE

Some of the major guidelines and instructions by the DU administration:

• Both teaching and non-teaching staff should be fully vaccinated against the COVID- 19.

• The students who wish to attend the offline classes should have at least received one dose of the vaccine. The students who are to live in hostels should be fully vaccinated.

• Theory classes for both Undergraduate(UG) and Postgraduate(PG) courses will still be conducted online. Practical classes and other activities for the final year UG or PG students will be allowed in offline mode from September 15, with 50 per cent of the total accommodation.

• Attendance in offline classes is voluntary; there is no attendance compulsion.

• Classrooms/Practical rooms/Laboratories will be filled only up to 50% of the working capacity and only a limited number of experiments and exercises will be carried out for now.
• Libraries have been allowed to reopen from September 6, 2021. However, if there is a lack of adequate space, keeping in mind social distancing, then only the issuing of books can be allowed. To make this process easy, colleges and departments can give prior slots and appointments to students to avoid overcrowding.
• Final Year students may also come for academic consultation and placement purposes, as decided by the institute.
• COVID-19 safety protocols must be followed at all times and everyone must wear masks and ensure the use of sanitisers along with maintaining social distancing.

Cut-Offs 2021 likely to be higher

Varsity officials, including Gupta and acting vice-chancellor PC Joshi, held meetings with college principals to discuss the reopening plans.

“Holding online classes parallel to practical work will not be a challenge since we have a set-up in place. While students want to return to the campuses, parents are concerned about their safety due to the previous waves of Covid. It is a sensible step to continue online classes because we need to tread carefully,” said Manoj Sinha, principal of Aryabhatta College and general secretary of DU principals’ association.

Sinha also said within the DDMA and University Grants Commission (UGC) guidelines, colleges can also arrange for academic tutorials, if needed. “Although the teaching workload will increase, it will be manageable. We are enabling our classrooms so that teachers can use internet facilities in college to take online classes from our premises and conduct the lab work offline, as per a fixed timetable.”

Hardeep Kaur, a teacher of Zoology in Ramjas College, said, “It was difficult to manage offline and online classes when the in-person practicals resumed last year. I had to repeat one experiment six to seven times to ensure that physical distancing was maintained among students at all times. Students also need hands-on experience in conducting the experiments so that they build on their skills. However, the rising Covid-19 cases along with making these classes non-mandatory may lead to a low attendance.”

Universities and other educational institutions across the country have been closed since March 16, 2020, when the government of India announced a nationwide lockdown.

ALSO READ: Delhi University to implement FYUP for the next academic year 2022-23

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The University of Delhi is once again going to implement FYUP (a four-year undergraduate programme) from the next academic session (2022-23). After the first attempt failed in 2014, now it has recently received approval from the University’s Academic Council for the new structure.

At the meeting of the University’s Academic Council — which looks after all academic and administrative matters of the university — the implementation of provisions under the new National Education Policy (NEP) and the FYUP which is part of the policy has been made fool-proof for the academic year 2022-23.

 About The FYUP

The four-year undergraduate programme has multiple entry and exit options along with a blended (both online and offline) mode of learning and a bank of credits — an academic repository of a student’s credits that they have earned in college. This option under the new programme is also expected to allow students flexibility and will give qualifications based on the number of years they have studied: A certificate for completing one year, a diploma in two, a three-year degree or a four-year undergraduate degree if they complete the course.

Furthermore, under the new rules, the university will provide a choice between a three-year honours course or a four-year honours course, which includes one year of research.

NIC has further notified that in the first three years of the honours programmes, students will have to have to choose another language course as well besides existing courses with one of two languages being an Indian language), as well as Social and Emotional Learning course followed by an Innovation and Entrepreneurship course, co-curricular, and an Ethics and Culture course.
As for Commerce students, they will have to choose one discipline from the humanities or social sciences and study six courses from it over their third and fourth years.

CHECK OUT: ADVANTAGES OF DELHI UNIVERSITY

The duration of the post-graduation course will then depend on the duration of the undergraduate degree.

While the existing MPhil programme will be discarded from 2022-2023, the University is looking at ways to implement both one year and two-year Post-Graduate programmes. The structure is changing as higher education is changing in the current environment. Earlier, language was not compulsory for the commerce and science courses but now language will be important for everyone.

Delhi University officials say in the new course structure, BA programme, B Com programme and B Sc (General) courses shall be discontinued. There will be credit scores for every course and in the case of all the courses will have similar credit scores. For the first three years, the credit score points would be 148 for all the courses, earlier for BA (Pass), B Com (Pass) and B Sc (General) course the credit points used to be 132, which made them a lesser course than the Honours. In the new programme, students shall be able to pursue three-year honours or four-year honours in a discipline or four-year honours in a discipline with Research.

Dr Vikas Gupta, the registrar of the university, said, “The four-year undergraduate programme has been approved by the Academic Council with the suggestion that reshuffling of papers will be allowed with prior permission.” This means that students will be allowed to choose the papers that they want to study for their course.

“Lateral entry of students will also be permitted — that is if after studying in DU for some time, if a student wants to shift to another institution they can do so. However, in order to accept such entries to DU, an assessment of seats and infrastructure available will be done and entrance exams will be conducted,” Gupta added.

DU’s new FYUP won’t be like failed 2013 attempt, will be student-centric, says acting Vice-Chancellor, P.C Joshi.

CHECK OUT: The resumption of offline classes will be discussed at JNU, DU, and Jamia.

Objections by the Professors

Earlier when DU had introduced the Four-Year Undergraduate Programme (FYUP) in 2014. It was scrapped by the government after massive protests by students and teachers the same year when Professor Dinesh Singh was the vice-chancellor but the programme was junked a year later by the Smriti Irani-led Ministry of Human Resource Development (now Ministry of Education).

This time around the objections regarding the FYUP has started earlier; Delhi University staff opposes several FYUP provisions.

Rajesh Jha, a professor in DU, said, “With the four-year programme, students will easily give up. The blended mode of learning means 40 per cent of coursework will be covered through online learning and the pandemic has made a case in point that digital learning is not accessible for all.”

Professors also claimed that several provisions of the NEP were not openly discussed with them, and fear that it puts their jobs at risk since the number of students will fluctuate annually.

In September 2020, a 42-member committee was formed to look into the implementation of the NEP at Delhi University. This committee, comprising principals, teachers and professors, was headed by Professor Vivek Suneja, dean of the Faculty of Management Studies.

ALSO READ: UGC instructs Universities, Colleges to organize competitions on Cyber security, Cybercrime

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