Nicknamed the Oxford of the East at one point, it appears that the tag of Pune being one of the country’s leading education hubs is fast slipping. The poor performance of educational institutions in the city in the national rankings of top institutions across the country released by the Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Friday is a reflection on the same.
The results of the National Institute of Ranking Framework 2022 which ranks higher educational institutions across the country under various categories such as overall best institutions, best universities, best colleges, best medical colleges, best dental colleges and so on, isn’t as encouraging for Pune. Only two institutions from the city made to the ministry’s honours list – was the D Y Patil Vidyapeeth, Pune ranked third amongst the top 5 dental colleges in the country, a slip from its second position last year and the Symbiosis Law School ranked at number 3 amongst law schools in the country, a significant improvement from its number 9 position last year.
NIRF Rankings 2022 | Top educational institutions | Best engineering colleges | Best colleges in India | Top medical colleges | Best management colleges
What’s particularly disappointing is the slipping position of the Savitribai Phule Pune University, which until two years ago, was being considered for the coveted Institute of Eminence (IoE) tag. The university which was ranked number 9th in the country amongst all universities in 2020, lost its place amongst the top 10 in 2021 slipping to 11th position and in the latest rankings it has further slid down to the 12th position.
Last year, SPPU ranked at overall number 20 amongst all educational institutions in the country, this year its position is 22nd.
Acting Vice chancellor, SPPU, Dr Karbhari Kale blamed the COVID-19 situation partially for the situation. “As the COVID-19 situation has reduced the number of out-of-state and foreign students, the student-teacher ratio has shifted, resulting in a difference in cumulative grading. But I hope we can do better in the future,” he said.
Dr Sanjeev Sonawane, Pro vice-chancellor, SPPU said the number of foreign students is less as there are some limitations as a state university. “Jadhavpur University of Calcutta is ranked the first public university in the country. But they have 1200 teachers while we have only 368 approved teachers and 50 percent of these approved posts are vacant. Therefore, if we want to maintain our position in the future, the cooperation of the state government is necessary,” he said.
On the other hand, Vidya Yeravdekar, pro chancellor of Symbiosis University, celebrated the positioning of the law school as third best in the country and the Symbiosis Institute of Business Management (SIBM) at number 17th in the country, crediting an enhanced focus on research and capability building.
Amongst the other educational institutions, the Indian Institute of Science Education & Research Pune has been ranked at number 24 overall, last year it was 24. Amongst the top 100 universities, both Symbiosis International University has been ranked 32 (38 last year) and the D Y Patil Vidyapeeth ranked 41 (46 last year) improved considerably.
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