The latest India rankings of educational institutions under the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) that came out on Monday gave an opportunity for many institutions in Kerala to rejoice. Four premier universities in the State and 14 colleges have featured in the top 100 rankings in their respective categories.
However, the rankings do not paint a good picture for north Kerala. St. Joseph’s College, Devagiri, Kozhikode, at 59, is the only college that has been featured among the top 100 from the Malabar region.
“It is a proud moment for us, having jumped from the 78th rank to 59th in a year,” said Boby Jose, Principal of the college.
He said the preparations by the college to upgrade its NAAC (National Assessment and Accreditation Council) accreditation had paid off. “We have been maintaining good scores for NAAC right from the beginning. Ours was the first college in India to get A++ in the third cycle. We had a score of 3.76 out of four in the fourth cycle,” Mr. Jose said, explaining the similarity in the ranking criteria for NAAC and NIRF.
However, the college not being well known outside Kerala has adversely affected its ranking very often. “We have scored well in teaching, learning, result, and research. But like most colleges in Kerala, we do not have students from other States. It is affecting our ranking and the evaluators’ perception,” Mr. Jose added.
St. Joseph’s College had a ranking of 34 in 2018. But the score gradually plummeted. The college authorities are elated over the much higher ranking they have received this year.
The internal quality assurance cell of the college headed by vice-principal Father Anto had worked hard to bring out this result.
