Performance Evaluation of GATE Coaching Institutes in India: A Fuzzy-MCDM Approach

Abstract

It becomes inevitable to impart more attention to the education sector, specially the technical education sector as technology is the pillar of ultramodern civilization of 21st century. Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE) is considered to be one of the most critical and standardized tests conducted at the national level in India and it aims in examining the technical aptitude and practical ability of engineering students. Numerous institutes offer quality coaching for GATE/IES aspirants through online and classroom courses. The prime objective of this research is to evaluate the performance of six leading institutes which provide GATE exam preparation coaching across the country. A literature review has been carried and six influential parameters were identified for the assessment of institutions. Relevant data have been gathered from expert’s opinion and simulated numerically. This study propounds a hybrid fuzzy-multi criteria decision making (MCDM) approach where fuzzy-analytical hierarchy process (AHP) is used to determine the priority weights of criteria and fuzzy-technique for order of preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS) is used to prioritize, rank and benchmark the institutions. In this study, fuzzy set theory is incorporated with MCDM to eliminate the vagueness and discrepancy present in the human judgement. To the best of our knowledge it is one of the few studies that measure the performance of educational institutions in India.