IITs mull external peer review by eminent people
In an effort towards greater transparency and accountability, the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) are considering an external peer review by eminent people from academia and industry every five years. Each IIT will also be expected to conduct an internal audit of every department.
This is the first time such a stock-taking exercise is likely to take place and comes at a time when the country’s institutes have barely found a mention in international rankings of top universities across the globe.
The external audit has been recommended by the standing committee of the IIT Council. A final decision is likely to be taken on January 7 by the IIT Council. The review will be made public by every institute. The proposal, if accepted, will allow parents, students and academicians to judge an institute according to the feedback.
India Education Review reported that no Indian institutions made it to the top 200 in the QS World University Rankings for 2012. The QS rankings for institutes of higher education had featured IIT-Bombay in 2010 which was ranked 187, but dropped to 225 in 2011. This year it was down to 227.
In the Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings 2012-13, only IIT Bombay, Kharagpur and Roorkee figured in the list of top 400 universities across the globe.
Besides the international rankings, there is no system of judging institutes of higher education in the country. “The argument behind this is that there is no measure of the quality of infrastructure, faculty, courses offered or the research being done. The IITs are equipped to judge each other and this review will encourage improvement,’’ a source said.
Committee members for the peer review will be selected by the chairperson of the IIT Council from a panel of 10 names given by the board of governors of the respective institute. Each IIT will be expected to undertake an in-house department wise review before any external peer review is carried out.
This is the first time such a stock-taking exercise is likely to take place and comes at a time when the country’s institutes have barely found a mention in international rankings of top universities across the globe.
The external audit has been recommended by the standing committee of the IIT Council. A final decision is likely to be taken on January 7 by the IIT Council. The review will be made public by every institute. The proposal, if accepted, will allow parents, students and academicians to judge an institute according to the feedback.
India Education Review reported that no Indian institutions made it to the top 200 in the QS World University Rankings for 2012. The QS rankings for institutes of higher education had featured IIT-Bombay in 2010 which was ranked 187, but dropped to 225 in 2011. This year it was down to 227.
In the Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings 2012-13, only IIT Bombay, Kharagpur and Roorkee figured in the list of top 400 universities across the globe.
Besides the international rankings, there is no system of judging institutes of higher education in the country. “The argument behind this is that there is no measure of the quality of infrastructure, faculty, courses offered or the research being done. The IITs are equipped to judge each other and this review will encourage improvement,’’ a source said.
Committee members for the peer review will be selected by the chairperson of the IIT Council from a panel of 10 names given by the board of governors of the respective institute. Each IIT will be expected to undertake an in-house department wise review before any external peer review is carried out.
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