Pune: Minister of higher and technical education Chandrakant Patil linked Savitribai Phule Pune University’s (SPPU) decline in national rankings to frequent campus protests and urged the management to control such unrest to improve public perception and institutional performance.Speaking at SPPU’s 126th convocation on Saturday, Patil said, “Perception is among the 20 criterion for marking in the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF). Frequent protests on campus will keep students away. The management must resolve its problems before the agitations escalate.”While acknowledging a shortage of teachers because of policy and financial constraints, Patil said that alone could not explain the university’s falling rank. “Teacher recruitment will be resolved in a month and so will matters related to the library and hostels. Corporate social responsibility may be used to strengthen certain facilities,” he added.SPPU has faced criticism for a sharp drop in its NIRF ranking, which experts said stems largely from staff shortages. Over 60% of teaching positions at the university are vacant currently.A senior educationist, requesting anonymity, said, “Terming it as a perception problem is deflecting from the main issue — which is recruitment of teachers. The process has been stalled for years and rankings will continue to fall without an adequate number.”A former vice-chancellor pointed out that perception accounts for only 10% in the NIRF’s scoring matrix. “The biggest chunk of weightage is given to teaching, learning and resources (TLR) and research and professional practice (RPC) — each 30%. Even the other parameters are directly influenced by faculty. Students will be better educated and employable if you have good teachers. Additionally, students from other places will choose SPPU only if the quality of teaching is high. It will together better the perception,” he said, adding: “Blaming it on perception and the management without addressing the core issue, which also includes excessive red tape, is wrong.”The NIRF rankings are based on five main categories: TLR, RPC, graduation outcomes (GO), outreach and inclusivity (OI) and perception (PR). Most criteria are linked to the number and quality of faculty members, educationists said.Another senior professor highlighted the impact of the faculty crunch on research. “Last year, only 17 PhD students were admitted. Lack of good guides will lead to a dip in PhD scholars, preventing research. Additionally, many courses need to be revamped and new ones added. If there are only 40% teachers available, who will revise the syllabus and how will the university start new courses? SPPU also needs to change its functioning proactively, support teachers and encourage innovation,” the professor said.Meanwhile, the convocation saw 98,821 undergraduate and postgraduate students receiving degrees. Additionally, 54 students across faculties received 89 gold medals for academic excellence.New NAAC evaluation method soonNational Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) executive committee chairman Anil Sahasrabudhe said only 400 universities in India have undergone NAAC evaluation so far, leaving 82% out of the process. “Therefore, NAAC evaluation will be simplified to bring all Indian colleges and universities under its umbrella. The new procedure will be announced in the next two to three months,” he told TOI.He also spoke of upcoming centres of excellence focused on artificial intelligence in education. “Applications for the same have been invited and an announcement will be made soon,” he added.
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