Page 32 - EducationWorld May 2021

Cover Story

tence of faculty, faculty welfare and
development, curriculum and peda-
gogy, placement record, infrastructure
and leadership/management quality.
The scores awarded by 3,956 academi-
cally informed sample respondents to
private autonomous, government au-
tonomous (as classified by the Univer-
sity Grants Commission) — as also the
country’s Top 100 non-autonomous
and engineering colleges (separately
ranked under nine parameters) —
under each parameter were totalled
to rank colleges in discrete categories
and eliminate apples and oranges type
comparisons.
“ THIS YEAR’S SURVEY OF JGU’s Raj Kumar: important service Palety: digital media survey

India’s most respected arts,
science and commerce col-
leges was conducted using the Congress party. autonomous All India Council for
a structured questionnaire adminis- Before a reading of the league Technical Education (AICTE) was es-
tered through digital media, because tables in the pages following, an ex- tablished to monitor, regulate, super-
of travel restrictions mandated by planatory comment on autonomous vise and accredit engineering colleges,
the Covid-19 pandemic. Our field re- and non-autonomous colleges is nec- technical institutes and business man-
searchers interviewed 1,823 selected essary for better understanding of the agement institutions. However, the
faculty and 2,133 final year students sui generis league tables presented by blue-chip IITs, IIMs and NITs, IIITs
of colleges across the country and EducationWorld. were established by separate Acts of
asked them to rate ASC institutions In 1956, the Delhi-based University Parliament and excluded from the
with which they are familiar under six Grants Commission (UGC) was estab- supervisory and regulatory purview
parameters of higher education excel- lished to monitor, regulate, supervise of AICTE.
lence. The scores awarded by them on and subsidise all non-technical higher Moreover under s.12 and s.26 of
a ten point scale — later multiplied by education institutions countrywide. the UGC Act, 1956, the commission is
ten — on these parameters were to- Under its charter it was empowered empowered to issue rules/guidelines
talled to rank institutions in separate to fund all Central government univer- to non-technical colleges/universities
categories. Scores awarded by respon- sities, and to award discretionary proj- for the maintenance of standards.
dents to their own institutions were ect grants to state government univer- Under the University Grants Com-
disregarded and colleges rated by less sities. In the Union budget 2021-22 mission (Conferment of Autonomous
than 25 sample respondents are not the Centre’s financial allocation to Status upon Colleges and Measures
listed,” says Premchand Palety, enable the commission to discharge for Maintenance of Standards in Au-
promoter-CEO of the Delhi-based its charter is Rs.4,693 crore. tonomous Colleges) Regulations, the
Centre for Forecasting & Research Similarly in 1987, a separate and commission is empowered to confer
Pvt. Ltd (C fore. estb.2000) which academic autonomy on high perfor-
has conducted this publication’s an- mance colleges.
nual ranking surveys ab initio. A parallel objective of these Unlike non-autonomous colleges
An alumnus of Punjab Engineering league tables is to enable which are tied to the apron strings of
College, Chandigarh and the FORE college administrations to their affiliating universities, autono-
School of Management, Delhi, Palety mous colleges are permitted to design
served as a senior manager with ORG reflect upon their relative their own syllabuses and curriculums,
(Organisation & Research Group) — strengths and weaknesses introduce new study programmes,
India’s pioneer retail market research conduct examinations and have the
company — prior to going solo in the and address them to freedom to prescribe rules for admis-
new millennium and promoting C fore raise teaching-learning sion in consonance with the reserva-
two decades ago. This company’s ma- tion policy of the state government/
jor clients include Nestle, Mint and standards to global levels national policy, and independently

32 EDUCATIONWORLD MAY 2021