The first-ever initiative of its kind in the nation rates 383 Nursing colleges and 294 Paramedical Colleges

At an event today, the Honorable Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Shri Yogi Adityanath, formally released the rating of 383 Nursing colleges, and 294 Paramedical colleges in the state. These include both private as well as government colleges. These ratings will be made available to the public through the official website of the UP State Medical Faculty. This move will enable colleges to gain valuable insights into their quality standing and serve as an inspiration for them to improve their teaching and training methodologies.

The rating mechanism is a part of “Mission Niramaya,” a pioneering initiative aimed at elevating the quality of pre-service education programs in Nursing and Paramedical Education. It aims to promote transparency and accountability of the healthcare education system in the State to ensure quality in healthcare professionals entering the workforce. It was conducted by a team of 70 technical assessors who checked the teaching-learning processes, learning outcomes, and technical documentation; and 58 non-technical assessors who assessed general documentation and infrastructure were drawn from across the country by the Quality Council of India (QCI). The data presents the rating of nursing colleges based on their performance in various programs, including ANM, GNM, BSC, PBBSC, and MSC. The paramedics have been evaluated on overall performance.  The colleges have been classified into five grades: A, B, C, D, and E which serve as a useful tool to evaluate their standing.

“Uttar Pradesh has made unprecedented strides in medical education in the past few years. The number of colleges doubled in the period from 2017 to 2022 and is poised to double in the next two years. With a view to achieving our goal of one medical college in each district, we have signed an MOU with two private investors, Rajiv Samajik Shiksha Sewa Sansthan for Mau district and Gyan Chetna Educational Society for Shamli district have been selected for establishing high caliber institutes,” said Hon Shri Yogi Adityanath, Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh.

“Our government had resolved to establish the State as a hub for the competent healthcare workforce in nursing and paramedical fields. We launched Mission Niramaya in October 2022 to unfurl this vision and since then the department has been working diligently and the results are beginning to unfold. A major step forward, a rating of all nursing and paramedical colleges has been made public. The initiative will not only assist over 80,000 students in the State who are choosing to take up these careers but will also help the institutes to assess their standing and lay the path for improvement of their academic standards. This is the first time that any state has taken such an accreditation exercise for its educational institutes. I congratulate Uttar Pradesh State Medical Facility and QCI for this tremendous effort,’ he elaborated.

“The evaluation and rating mechanism developed underpins the government’s commitment to improving healthcare services in the state. Through this strategic initiative, colleges will be assessed periodically by a third-party assessor to determine their performance against benchmarking parameters. This will help colleges understand their quality standing and motivate them to enhance their academic standards, thus moving up the rating ladder. The comprehensive approach ensures that prospective students and parents can make informed decisions when selecting colleges, thus fostering demand for quality education and further driving improvements in the field.” noted Shri Brijesh Pathak, Deputy Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh.

The UP State Medical Faculty has collaborated with leading agencies, including Jhpiego, UPTSU, and the Quality Council of India (QCI), for the exercise. A user-friendly app-based application was developed for colleges to participate in the assessment.  A rating framework and scoring rubrics were designed by Jhpiego based on three pillars: Infrastructure, Teaching-Learning Process, and Learning Outcomes. UPTSU provided technical guidance and validation, ensuring the accuracy of the assessment process while QCI conducted desktop analysis, guided colleges, trained assessors, and conducted physical visits using body cameras for transparency. QCI also oversaw data cleaning and analysis, allowing colleges to review scores and address concerns through a Grievance Review Committee.

“We ensured that transparency and objectivity were maintained by mandating the use of body cameras by assessment teams during physical visits, recording and live streaming all interactions with principals, teaching staff, and students.  Draft reports were shared with each college, enabling them to review the allotted scores and submit grievances within a specified time window which were addressed by a Grievance Review Committee set up by QCI for resolution,” informed Shri Alok Kumar, Principal Secretary, Medical Education, Government of Uttar Pradesh.

Phase two mentor institutes onboarded

“Mission Niramaya” represents a significant step forward in the field of Nursing and Paramedical Education, addressing the pressing need to enhance educational standards. As a part of the proceedings, 8 Mentor Institutes of the second phase were also onboarded. These include College of Nursing, GIMS, Greater Noida, Kailash Institute of Nursing & Paramedical Sciences, Gautam Budha Nagar, KGMU, Lucknow, Popular Nursing School, Varanasi, Samarpan Institute of Nursing and Paramedical Sciences, Lucknow, SGPGI, Lucknow, St. Mary’s School of Nursing, Varanasi, Vedanta School of Nursing and Paramedical Science, Azamgarh. It may be recalled that 12 institutes were identified to initiate the mentorship program in October 2022, and the first set of mentee institutes was formally onboarded with a view to initiating the quality improvement program in March earlier this year. The government’s commitment to improving the quality of pre-service education programs is aimed to elevate the overall healthcare services in Uttar Pradesh, benefitting both students and the public.

Two Medical Colleges to be developed in 2 Unserved Districts of the State on PPP Mode 

The honorable Chief Minister also announced the addition of two Medical Colleges in PPP mode to the existing set. These colleges to be set up in Mau and Shamli form the next phase of an ambitious program One District One Medical College launched in September 2021 to provide medical colleges in the unserved districts. The two private partners selected are Rajeev Samajik Shiksha Sewa Sansthan for Mau district and Gyan Chetna Educational Society for Shamli district.

Under the agreement, these partners will develop a minimum 100-seat medical college in Mau and Shamli. These 2 medical colleges, once operational, will add at least 200 doctors to the medical workforce annually, and generate at least 1300 jobs as direct employment. A total of INR 200 -300 Crores is envisaged to be injected into the state economy by each of the private investors. The move is expected to add an additional 600 beds to the districts over the next 5 years.

It may be recalled that a formal government order was issued to set up medical colleges in 16 unserved districts under the public-private partnership framework in September 2021. In April 2022, MoUs were signed with Shanti Foundation for Maharajganj district and Shri Siddhi Vinayak Trust for Sambhal district.