HYDERABAD: Telangana Council of Higher Education (TGCHE) chairman Prof V Balakista Reddy on Wednesday said the NIRF rankings should be viewed not merely as an evaluation tool but as a roadmap for sustained and strategic growth of higher education in Telangana through interdisciplinary research, innovation and institutional collaboration.
He was speaking at a one-day workshop on the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF), organised by TGCHE for the benefit of 16 state Universities. About 50 coordinators and nodal officers from universities and other institutions participated.
The workshop highlighted the role of NIRF rankings in guiding students’ choice of institutions, facilitating scholar mobility, informing public policy, supporting funding decisions, benchmarking institutional performance nationally and globally, and attracting students, scholars and sustained competitive funding.
Prof Reddy said such initiatives were crucial for improving institutional funding opportunities, accreditation outcomes and overall quality across State Universities. He noted that Telangana, though a young state, had emerged as a knowledge and innovation hub, with increasing participation of its Central Institutions and State Universities in NIRF rankings. While acknowledging strengths in teaching-learning processes, inclusivity and outreach, he stressed the need to strengthen research output.