Quality Education in Bengal: A Concern

Oct 12, 2025 - By Ashutosh Roy Politics

Quality Education

Quality Education, the key parameter of progress of Higher Education Institutes (HEI); has found a declining curve in West Bengal for the last three years. The fact-based Ranking published by NIRF in all India basis each year and a simple collation of data can speak about the quality education, though seldom discussed. Should we call it a Breakdown of Education System in West Bengal?

Key Highlights:

• University Rankings Decline:
  • The University of Calcutta dropped from rank 12 in 2023 to rank 39 in 2025.
  • Jadavpur University slid from 4th to 9th place during the same period.
  • The University of Burdwan, once at rank 86 in 2023, now struggles within the 101–150 bracket in 2025.
• Engineering Institutes Hold Ground:
  Despite the overall decline, some engineering institutions in West Bengal have maintained strong performances:
  • IIT Kharagpur
  • Jadavpur University (Engineering Division)
  • NIT Durgapur
  • IIEST Shibpur
    These institutes, although located in the state, are mostly under central government or autonomous management, indicating that non-state-sponsored HEIs are primarily responsible for upholding the state’s academic reputation and quality education.
• Colleges: A Mixed Bag:
  While fewer colleges have made it to the top 100, some institutions continue to shine:
  • Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda Centenary College
  • Xavier’s College
  • Ramakrishna Mission Vidyamandira
  • Ramakrishna Mission Residential College
  • Midnapore College
  • Lady Brabourne College

Notably, three out of these six are run by the Ramakrishna Mission.

The total number of West Bengal colleges in the top 100 has declined from 8 in 2023, to 7 in 2024, and further to 6 in 2025. Among these, three are government-controlled colleges, offering some consolation.

Even the Madrasah Education system has also facing challenges today.

The Bigger Picture:

We are not going to compare the data with other states and that will shame us even more, though seldom discussed in media or respective forums. We must take a note that even Bihar, Jharkhand, Assam have been able to remain steadfast in their commitment towards excellence in Quality Education. The southern states, Gujarat, Orissa, Delhi are forging ahead, as in the past.

Quality Education: Expansion Without Planning?

The West Bengal Government has been continuously opening new Universities and Colleges in last 10/15 years to impart quality education and to reach education in every corner of the state. We can watch thirty plus universities and the numbers of general degree colleges have surpassed five hundred and fifty approximately.  Besides this, the private colleges and Universities have also emerged in the state but they can’t cater to the mass for their exorbitant costs.

However, it’s important to launch a new University or upgrade a college to the University, but its even more important to deploy a proper infrastructure and human resources the University properly. If one closely looks at the status, the number of vacant positions seem to be alarming. That means there are some sort of lack of planning in building up Universities.

Moreover another question becomes pertinent, is it really necessary to open up new Universities, when the existing ones are suffering from manpower and fund crunches? Moreover, now-a-days many colleges have started offering Master Degree courses.

So, Universities  may focus more on Research and Post Doc jobs. If we have fund crunch or infrastructural deficit or manpower crunch, its better to merge Universities akin to the Banking sector merger, so that they can function with efficacy.  In the pyramidal structure, the number of Higher Education Institutes will definitely reduce, if we  move from bottom to the top.

Time for Reflection and Action for Quality Education

We must acknowledge that all is not well in the higher education landscape of West Bengal. It’s time to revisit the fundamentals, reassess our strategic direction, and implement well-thought-out policies, followed by rigorous execution and monitoring.

Only then can we hope to restore the state’s legacy as a leader in quality higher education.