Goa University may seek consolation in the truth that it stays firmly in the top 250 universities among the BRICS nations. That no doubt is an achievement for the university, but there is no hiding the fact that its ranking has slipped 40 positions, from 201 to 241. In the QS World University Rankings – BRICS Regional Rankings, Goa University had stayed at a steady 201 for five consecutive years, but this year its ranking has dropped. The rankings are of 403 universities and to avoid anomalous results, QS evaluates institutions producing more than 150 papers in the last five years. While that gives Goa University a big boost – being among the top university in the five countries – one does have to wonder whether it could have fared better.
As per Goa University’s admission, the papers per faculty have gone up and the analysis reveals that the staff with PhD indicator is the strongest parameter for the university. We take it that the main reason for the ranking is that the 84.1 per cent of the teachers in the University are doctorate holders, and that 5.5 per cent of the faculty is international. Kudos to the University for achieving this, but how is this benefitting the students of the University? Are Goa University graduates and post graduates given any preference when they seek employment or even when they seek admission to another university to continue their studies?
Let’s set aside the university rankings for the moment and look at the quality of students. Recall that all 8000 youth who had answered the entrance test for the accountant’s post in the Accounts Department this year had failed to achieve the qualifying mark. Two months ago, through this column Herald had raised some pertinent questions after the disastrous result of the aspirants at the accountants’ entrance exam. The prime question had been: What are the graduates that our colleges are churning out year after year capable of? This result should have had Goa University and its Academic Council, Executive Council and every other body associated with it, scurrying to determine what has gone with the education system. Till now there is absolute silence from the University on how 8000 of its graduates could have failed an entrance test. Instead, the University takes solace in getting a ranking, which is quite a lot worse than what it had achieved in the previous years.
Unfortunately for university, that’s not the only ranking that it has seen itself slip in. Earlier this year, in the National Institute of Ranking Framework (NIRF) the university had dropped from 64 to 68. While it was just four places, the previous year in the same rankings it had dropped by 44 ranks from 20 to 64. This drop had been ascribed to an increased number of universities being ranked that year. For the record, Goa University still figures in the list of top 100 universities and top 100 institutes of higher education in the country (98th in the latter list).
But, Goa University has to aim to improve its rankings, achieve a higher position among the BRICS nations’ institutes of higher education. An entire generation of Goans has passed through the portals of Goa University, earning their degrees and doctorates, and are now spread across the globe. The alumni are placed in various positions and the university could consider tapping these resources to build up its image and its rankings. But that will happen when Goa University shows that it has the will to excel, for merit is a natural corollary of the will to achieve it, and all that the only university in the State has to do is display it.
