Representatives of three colleges have approached Ramakrishna Mission Vidyamandira, Belur, for advice on how to improve their positions in national ranking exercises.

The education ministry has recently asked Vidyamandira, an autonomous college, to mentor other colleges because of its consistent stellar performance in the ranking exercise, National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF).

The three colleges have sought to know how to prepare themselves better for the evaluations carried out by the NIRF authorities and NAAC (National Assessment and Accreditation Council), said Swami Ekachittananda, the officiating principal of the college.

“The representatives of the colleges have approached us verbally seeking to know how we can mentor them in those areas. We will soon meet to decide on what the college can do,” the Swami told Metro.

Of the three institutions that approached Vidyamandira, two are run by the government and one is a private engineering college.

Vidyamandira had ranked ninth, 11th and seventh in NIRF in 2018, 2019 and 2020. In October 2013, the college had been re-accredited by NAAC with Grade A (highest grade).

A teacher at Vidyamandira said it was important to keep track of the data of the crucial academic activities and other engagements and submit a comprehensive report for the assessments – an area where the colleges in Bengal are found wanting.

“You need to have comprehensive data on total citation count over the previous three years, number of publications, patents published and granted. Many institutions do not maintain data and they need to be mentored in these areas,” he said.