Meghalaya Education Minister Rakkam A Sangma informed that the state government will review the underperformance of its universities in the 9th edition of the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) 2024. This decision comes in response to the disappointing performance of the North-Eastern Hill University (NEHU), which failed to secure a place in the top 100 universities in the country. In contrast, other universities from the Northeast, such as Gauhati University and Tezpur University, ranked significantly higher.
Sangma stated that he would convene a review meeting shortly after Independence Day. The meeting will include vice-chancellors from both private and central universities in Meghalaya, including NEHU. The aim is to assess the current situation, identify areas where the universities are lagging, and explore strategies for improvement.
“From our side we will call review meetings. I will be convening review of the NEP and others issues with all the vice chancellor of the universities in the state as well as the private University and the central university the North-eastern Hill University at the earliest to take stock of the situation and understand where we are lagging behind if there is any,” The Education Minister said.
In response to whether past agitations at NEHU could have affected its ranking, Sangma acknowledged that while the university has seen fewer protests in recent years, maintaining a conducive environment for students is crucial for academic success. He emphasized the need to foster a competitive mindset among students, particularly in a tribal state like Meghalaya.
“ Its not sure because in last one or two years there were not too many agitations as happened in the past but ofcourse it also matters because for the students we have to create a very conducive and wonderful environment to study because when we study we shouldn’t have any disturbance we should be able to concentrate. It’s my personal thought we are tribal state, we don’t see competitive mind amongst us, sometimes competitive mind should be built amongst ourselves,” he added.
Addressing concerns about the state’s overall education system, Sangma strongly defended the quality of education in Meghalaya, stating that it is on par with the rest of the country. He attributed some of the discrepancies in rankings to factors such as infrastructure, which might have added points for other universities but emphasized that classroom teaching remains the core of educational quality.
Asked, Education Minister Rakkam A Sangma said the quality of education in Meghalaya is second to none.
Asked on North-Eastern Hill University (NEHU)’s failure to secure a place in the top-100 universities of the country, as per National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF), Rakkam said, “I don’t know what’s the criteria laid down and on what basis the comparison has been made on this. Maybe there is always room for improvement for any institution. Maybe after NEP comes in, our NEHU may need time to create momentum, maybe some more departments need to be added.”
“I don’t think so with all this ranking, we can sum up that the quality of education is coming down. This is not true…I would like to say that the quality of our education, we are second to nobody as we have qualified professors, teachers and teaching faculty,” he said.
“Some universities must be having some good roads, good buildings, good buses, that must have added some points but class teaching is the core or bottom line that makes the quality of education. Yes, our institution may lack some basic facilities,” the minister added.
Sangma also highlighted that the state education commission is actively looking into various aspects of improving higher education in Meghalaya. He expressed optimism that with the implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP) and the potential addition of new departments at NEHU, the university’s performance in future rankings could improve.