TN to have universities ranking framework: Official

Discussions were on to set up a state universities ranking framework in Tamil Nadu to undertake a deep audit and evaluation of the institutions, a senior state government official said today.
The aim of the framework was in line with the Ministry of Human Resource Development's vision of creating world-class universities and it was expected to be in place positively by next academic year, state Higher Education Principal Secretary Sunil Paliwal said.
It would be on the lines of National Institutional Ranking Framework and the state higher education minister was receptive to the idea, he said noting that the state at present has 22 universities.

He was speaking after inaugurating the two-day 3rd National Higher Education Conclave, organised by CII here, with a theme of Transformation in Higher Education.
Stating that Karnataka had set up such a framework to help the universities to address deficiencies, he said there would be five parameters such as excellence in research, teaching, placement, public perception and equity (to have access), in assessing the ranking.
The government was also looking parallelly on how to improve the quality of education further in the state, Paliwal said.
He asked the CII to send the recommendations of the Conclave to the ministry, so that valid suggestions could be incorporated in the (education) policy.

The goal of the new higher education system would be to promote innovation and entrepreneurship among students who can then establish the foundations of knowledge based economy than being a destination for outsourcing services for other countries, Conclave chairperson Dr R Nandini said.