‘State made remarkable progress in edu sector’

Thrissur: Higher education minister R Bindu on Saturday launched a thinly veiled attack on governor A M Khan for the latter’s remarks against the quality of higher education in Kerala.Kerala has made remarkable progress and it was unfortunate that people occupying constitutional positions are trying to undermine them, the minister said.Bindu indirectly refuted the observations of the governor, raising doubts on the authenticity of the rankings given to some of the higher education agencies in Kerala, without mentioning his name. She argued that the rating agencies were credible institutions from outside Kerala. Also, they are giving rankings based on definite parameters. Nearly 21% of the total superior quality educational institutions in the country are located in Kerala, the minister said.Mahatma Gandhi University has been included in the top 100 educational institutions selected from across the globe by the Time Magazine. Kerala University has wrested A++ rank in NAAC accreditation, and is occupying 24th position in the NIRF ranking. Calicut University, Kalady Sree Sankara University and Cochin University of Science and Technology have also won A+ rank in NAAC accreditation, she said.“Instead of supporting Kerala for these achievements, efforts are going on to denigrate Kerala even at the national level, by citing one or two stray incidents,” the minister said.