Concerned over poor national assessment of its colleges, Bihar will conduct its own ranking

According to education department officials, the three-member committee, which will include Education Secretary Baidya Nath Yadav as a member, will assess the performance of all 270 constituent colleges of state universities.

Only 35 colleges coming under state universities have managed to get NAAC accreditation this year. In 2021, this figure was 95. NAAC accreditation is decided on the basis of an assessment of the student-teacher ratio, quality of teachers, availability of labs, quality of education, research, and overall infrastructure of colleges.

“From November 10 onwards, each of the 270 constituent colleges will have to make a PowerPoint presentation on its academic activities and performance,” an Education Department official told The Indian Express.

The idea is to prepare a database to rank colleges, the official said, adding, “We are adopting almost similar criteria as NAAC has for its ranking. It is very important to know where the government money is being spent. We also want to know how constituent colleges have been faring and why most of them have not yet received NAAC accreditation.”

On whether the state’s move to assess the colleges would put the government in conflict with the Governor, the chancellor of state universities, the official said, “As the state government gives the grant, it has the right to seek an account for it.”

The government and the Governor have clashed recently on a number of issues, including the salaries of officials and the advertising of posts.

However, on the issue of the new committee and rankings, Raj Bhavan sources said that there would not be any problem as long as it leads to improvement in the quality of education. “But if it ends up as a method to curtail annual grants for colleges, it will not be good for higher education,” a Raj Bhavan source said.