THE HINDU Editorial Vocabulary - April 10, 2018 - Topic 2
Measuring excellence:
on NIRF rankings
The “who’s who” of universities and research
institutions published by the Human Resource Development Ministry, as the
National Institutional Ranking Framework, 2018, should be viewed mainly as a
proposition that data make it possible to assign objective credentials to some
aspects of education. Its assessment of some of the top institutions such as
the Indian Institute of Science, the Jawaharlal Nehru University, the IITs and
the IIMs is unsurprising, given their record of research, peer-reviewed
publications and outcomes for graduates.
Even among the 3,954 institutions that
participated, there is a clear skew towards southern, southeastern and western
India. Participation levels are inadequate: there were 40,026 colleges and
11,669 standalone institutions according to the HRD Ministry’s All India Survey on Higher Education for 2016-17. To the faculty
and students in many colleges, what matters is the vision of the administrative
leaders and a commitment to excellence. The governing bodies should make
available adequate financial and academic resources to colleges, particularly
the younger ones, to help them improve performance. These are measured by the
NIRF in terms of the percentage of faculty with doctoral degrees, papers
published in credentialed journals, inclusivity and diversity of students, and
median salaries for the graduates.
Ranking educational and research institutes has
practical uses, such as helping students make study choices, sponsors to
identify research projects, and other universities to form partnerships. Yet,
for the process to evolve and be relevant, it should be able to enrol all
recognised educational institutions, not just the public ones. In the absence
of such participation, older institutions with historical advantages could
enjoy a higher ranking, obscuring newer entrants who may have stronger claims
to excellence. Also, the ranking approach worldwide is critiqued for failing to
capture the crucial metric of learning outcomes, relying instead on proxy data
on faculty strength and qualifications. In the case of the NIRF, which is now
in its third year, the final responsibility for accuracy of data lies with the
participating institution, except for aspects like research publications that
are independently verifiable. What is positive about the system is its emphasis
on achieving measurable goals and bringing in transparency. The 2018 exercise
added the disciplines of law, medicine and architecture and it hopes to cast the net wider in the future.
Beyond competitive ranking, however, the higher order goal is to foster
learning and scholarship. This can be achieved solely by encouraging faculty to
exercise complete academic freedom, without the pressure of perception
management. The NIRF ranks will measure the measurable, but there will be some
dimensions it may not be able to fully capture.
Vocabulary
Proposition: a statement or assertion
that expresses a judgment or opinion.
Example: The proposition that all men are
created equal
Synonyms: theory, hypothesis, thesis, argument, premise, principle
Assign: designate or set (something)
aside for a specific purpose.
Example: Managers happily assign large sums
of money to travel budgets
Synonyms: earmark for, designate
for, set aside for, reserve for, appropriate for
Aspect: a particular part or feature
of something.
Example: The financial aspect can be
overstressed
Synonyms: feature, facet, side, characteristic, particular
Assessment: the evaluation or estimation
of the nature, quality, or ability of someone or something.
Example: The assessment of educational
needs
Synonyms: evaluation, judgment, rating, estimation, appraisal, analysis
Participate: take part.
Example: Thousands participated in a nationwide
strike
Synonyms: take part in, engage
in, join in, get involved in, share in, play a part/role in
Inadequate: lacking the quality or
quantity required; insufficient for a purpose.
Example: These labels prove to be wholly
inadequate
Synonyms: insufficient, deficient, poor, scant, scanty, scarce, sparse
Resources: an action or strategy that
may be adopted in adverse circumstances.
Example: Sometimes anger is the only
resource left in a situation like this
Synonyms: expedient, resort, course, scheme, stratagem, trick
Relevant: closely connected or
appropriate to the matter at hand.
Example: The candidate's experience is
relevant to the job
Synonyms: pertinent, applicable, apposite, material, apropos, to
the point
Proxy: the authority to represent
someone else, especially in voting.
Example: They may register to vote by proxy
Synonyms: deputy, representative, substitute, delegate, agent, surrogate
Emphasis: special importance, value,
or prominence given to something.
Example: They placed great emphasis on the
individual's freedom
Synonyms: prominence, importance, significance, value, stress, weight
Measurable: able to be measured.
Example: Objectives should be measurable
and achievable
Synonyms: quantifiable, computable
