Page 61 - EducationWorld May 2022

Dr. Raj Kumar welcomes the re- which has changed the landscape of higher education which was hitherto
structuring and rationalisation of the liberal arts and law education in India. focused on professional, i.e, engineer-
EWIHER league tables which enable The massive investment of financial ing and medical education – is the
“peer comparisons,” and is elated and human resources made in JGU is low-profile Deccan College Post-
about JGU's top rank in the new pri- matched by its neighbouring Ashoka Graduate and Research Insti-
vate liberal arts and humanities uni- University, uniquely funded by over tute, and FLAME University, both
versities league table. “I’m especially 85 HNIs (high net worth individu- sited in Pune. Although EW was the
pleased that your sample respondents als) in India and abroad. Promoted first publication to welcome and cel-
have awarded JGU highest scores in 2014 by anchor investors includ- ebrate the establishment of Flame U
under the parameters of faculty com- ing pioneer venture capitalist Ashish (estb. 2015), since then the top brass
petence, faculty welfare and develop- Dhawan, serial entrepreneur Sanjeev of FLAME has developed an irrational
ment and internationalism. An educa- Bhikchandani (Naukri.com, InfoE- prejudice against the media and EW in
tion institution is only as good as its dge) among others, although it main- particular. Repeated contact attempts
teachers. Therefore in JGU we accord tains a conspicuously low public and during the past decade and for this is-
highest importance to faculty welfare media profile, Ashoka U (estb.2014) sue have not yielded positive response.
and development not only in terms of has also captured the imagination of Over the past 22 years since EW was
generous financial packages, but also school-leavers and scholars opting for launched, your editor has experienced
infrastructure resources, research and world-class liberal arts and sciences a fashion among several education in-
conference grants. The top score un- higher education. Currently, this less stitutions to shun “media spotlight”
der the internationalism parameter than a decade old university has 2,500 and “let our work speak for itself”.
is also well-deserved as our faculty of students mentored by 214 excellent, Education leaders invested with
950 includes over 100 distinguished globally recruited faculty. Although such unwarranted modesty are re-
professors from 42 countries, and we this year’s EW sample respondents ferred to the biblical injunction not
will be adding 120 additional faculty have ranked Ashoka U #2, they have to hide their lamp under a bushel,
from premier American and British awarded this eight-year-old private but to place it on a high table so that
universities by August this year. I can’t varsity the highest scores under the it benefits all. Especially in develop-
say I’m surprised by our #1 ranking important parameters of research and ing countries, including India, where
under the parameter of competence innovation, curriculum and pedagogy, the gap between best institutions and
of faculty,” says Raj Kumar who mod- industry interface and placements. stragglers is very wide, sharing best
estly ascribes JGU’s top score under Ranked below the Top 2 in the cosy practices and expert opinions serve to
leadership to the excellent leadership top table of seven private liberal arts raise the whole floor of education. This
of the university’s deans who head the and humanities universities — a new is in the public interest and necessary
12 schools of this private university millennium phenomenon in Indian for national development.

Private liberal arts & humanities universities league table

Competence of faculty Curriculum & pedagogy (digital readiness) (100) Industry interface (100) Leadership / governance programmes offered (100) TOTAL SCORE (1300)

Rank Faculty welfare & development (100) Research and innovation (300) Placement (100) Infrastructure (150) Internationalism (100) Range/diversity of NIRF 2021* Rank

2019 2020 2021 2022 (150) quality (100)

6 4 3 1 OP Jindal Global University, Sonipat (Haryana) 146 87 243 90 80 79 145 86 88 71 1115 NR
2 3 5 2 Ashoka University, Sonipat 144 85 246 92 84 81 140 84 85 72 1113 95
44 64 48 3 Deccan College Post-Graduate and Research
Institute (Deemed University), Pune 137 73 232 71 68 63 135 71 75 70 995 NR
23 12 12 4 FLAME University, Pune 130 71 204 80 76 77 134 72 77 71 992 NR
NR 86 76 5 World University of Design, Sonipat 126 68 156 63 64 63 124 58 65 57 844 NR
75 91 94 6 Jain Vishva Bharati Institute (Deemed University),
Nagaur (Rajasthan) 109 59 143 63 50 47 119 56 55 61 762 NR
NR 104 103 7 Apex Professional University (APU), Pasighat
(Arunachal Pradesh) 105 57 140 54 50 49 100 47 50 55 707 NR

MAY 2022 EDUCATIONWORLD 61