While many colleges agree that the just-released Anna University rankings, based on pass percentage of the colleges, is better than not having any kind of criterion for judgment, expert say that students should not base their decision only on them.
Education analyst Moorthy Selvakumaran agreed that mere pass percentage is insufficient to judge a college. Institutions where very few students take the exams also point to the lack of quality teachers, he said. According to Saiprakash LeoMuthu, Chief Executive Officer of Sri Sairam Engineering College, pass percentage should be only one of the criteria when it comes to colleges. The problem is that there is no other ranking system offered by the University and unless students visit each college, they will not be in a position to make the right choice when the time comes, he said.
“Just because a college has been performing well academically does not mean that it fosters overall development of the students. However, while it is unlikely that students will base their choices only on these rankings, only when a study is done when the cut-off marks for this academic year are released will one be able to tell what the student decides,” Kala Vijayakumar, President of SSN Institutions said.
According to Jose Swaminathan, Principal of Loyola ICAM College of Engineering and Technology, which is a new college yet to see its first batch pass out, a ranking system based only on pass percentage is not viable.
It is unfair to compare colleges, since a variety of criteria govern them, he added. The ranking should ideally be done taking into consideration views of the industrialists, parents and experts.
