ATAL Rankings for Higher Education Institutions

Prelims level : ARIIA Mains level : Boosting innovation ecosystem in India
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Why in News?

  • The Centre announced another annual ranking of higher educational institutions, based on how they fare in terms of innovation.
  • The new ranking – named Atal Ranking of Institutions on Innovation Achievements (ARIIA) – will be formally launched on October 15, the birth anniversary of former President APJ Abdul Kalam.

Significance:

  • ARIIA ranking will help inspire Indian institutions to reorient their mindset and build ecosystems to encourage high-quality research, innovation and entrepreneurship.
  • More than quantity, ARIIA will focus on the quality of innovations and will try to measure the real impact created by these innovations nationally and internationally.
  • The ranking system will also set the tone and direction for institutions for future development for making them globally competitive and in the forefront of innovation.

Objective:

  • ARIIA has been launched to systematically rank education institutions and universities primarily for innovation output based on all major indicators and parameters that are used globally.

ARIIA:

  • The ARIIA will primarily focus on 5 main parameters:
  • Budget expenses and revenue generated through innovation and entrepreneurship development
  • Facilitating access to advance centres/ facilities and entrepreneurial support system
  • Idea to Entrepreneurship
  • Development of Innovation Ecosystems supported through teaching and learning
  • Best innovative solutions developed in-house for improving governance of your institution

Key Highlights:

  • All recognised Indian education institutions are eligible to participate in the ARIIA ranking.
  • The ARIIA parameters have been primarily organised in 5 broad heads, which will be further elaborated into suitable sub-heads.
  • Each broad head will have an overall weight assigned to it and accordingly, the various subheads will be assigned appropriate weight distribution.
  • To ensure transparency in the ranking system, an attempt will be made to identify the relevant data needed to suitably measure the performance score under each sub-head.
  • The main emphasis will be on identifying the data that the institution can easily provide or which is easy to obtain from third-party sources and easily verifiable, wherever verification is necessary.
  • The overall score will be calculated based on the weights allotted to each head. The maximum value of the score will be 100.
  • The institutions will be issued ranks on the basis of their overall score.

Innovation Cell:

  • The main objective of the cell would be to encourage, inspire and nurture young students by exposing them to new ideas and processes resulting in innovative activities in their formative years, which will be fostered through a network of innovation clubs in higher educational institutions.

Key Details:

  • The cell has been established at the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) in New Delhi to systematically foster the culture of innovation in all Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) across the country.
  • It would be headed by a scientist and will comprise a senior ministry official and a host of young professionals.
  • The cell’s establishment comes after India’s ranking in the Global Innovation Index ranking improved significantly from 66 in 2016 to 57 in 2018, among a total of 127 countries.
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