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Central goverment warns colleges against fake ads to mislead students
The government raised the red flag days after it announced the sixth edition of the NIRF rankings 2021
The Centre has directed higher education institutions not to publish “misleading” advertisements highlighting categories and ranks which have not been announced by the ministry of education’s National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF), and also warned to debar them from future ranking exercise if found indulging in any such activity.
The government raised the red flag days after it announced the sixth edition of the NIRF rankings 2021. Officials at the ministry who are familiar with the matter said the Centre’s direction came in view of several irregularities in some advertisements published by private universities and colleges.
In a letter to all higher education institutions last week, the NIRF secretariat said, “It has been observed that many ranked and non-ranked institutions are advertising in newspapers and magazines highlighting the categories and ranks that are not announced by the NIRF and misleading general public, students, parents and other stakeholders. The institutes are highlighting state-wise or district-wise ranks whereas NIRF does not publish ranks in these categories.”
Under the NIRF, the institutes are ranked under 11 different categories --- overall, university, colleges, engineering, management, pharmacy, law, medical, architecture, dental and research. These are all India ranks and are not further divided into any subcategories.
“It has also been noticed that institutions have published advertisements in categories like private, government and self-financing institutions. However, NIRF doesn’t specify any such categories. It has also been found that some institutions have mentioned ranks on their website but do not specify the year they were ranked in,” a senior official said on condition of anonymity.
In its letters, the NIRF secretariat also said that it has been observed that some institutions have been using “imitations” of the State Emblem of India Act, 2005, without an approval from the central government. “Some of the institutions that are ranked by both NIRF and private players are displaying the ranks given by the private players with the NIRF logo,” it said.
Directing universities, colleges and other institutes not to bifurcate ranks state-wise or district-wise, the letter said: “Do not create additional categories or disciplines and rank your institutions in these self-made categories... The institutions are requested to comply with the mentioned advisory. Post this email, if any institution is found to advertise misleading advertisements or publish misleading information on their website, it will be barred from future ranking exercise.”
When contacted, officials at three central universities and two private universities denied publishing any such advertisement or information on the website. However, they confirmed receiving the letter from the NIRF Secretariat.
“We have been asked to submit a compliance report. But it has nothing to do with the public universities,” an official at central university in Delhi said, seeking anonymity.
